The purpose of this study was to extend behavioral model for marriage by including marital support as well as conflict resolution behavior and to investigate the effects of both negative life events stress and economic stress on marital satisfaction v...
The purpose of this study was to extend behavioral model for marriage by including marital support as well as conflict resolution behavior and to investigate the effects of both negative life events stress and economic stress on marital satisfaction via the intervening effects of marital support and conflicts resolution behavior. The Following research questions were explored for the purpose of this research.
1. Are there any relationships between marital satisfaction and both marital support patterns and conflict resolution styles?
2. Does the synergistic effect of both spouses' conflict resolution styles result in any significant differences in marital satisfaction?
3. Are there any significant differences in marital satisfaction depending on high and low levels in marital support and conflict resolution behavior?
4. Do both marital support and conflicts resolution behavior intervene the relationship between stress and marital satisfaction?
5. Which of the two variables, marital support and conflict resolution behavior, is more related to marital satisfaction?
6. Are there any significant differences in the intervening effects of both marital support and conflict resolution behavior on the relationship between stress and marital satisfaction depending on stressors and gender?
Subjects for the current study were 226 married couples, all having been married for more than two years and living in Seoul metropolitan area and vicinity. Each spouse of the couple was asked to fill out five measures, such as negative life events questionnaire, economic hardship questionnaire, modified social support scale, a conflicts resolution strategies scale from Conflicts and Problem-solving Scales, and Quality Marriage Index(QMI). The data collected for the present study was analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient, one-way and two-way ANOVA, Scheffe' test, paired t-test, path analysis by utilizing SAS and LISREL computer program.
The findings of the study can be summarized as follows.
First, the more the spouses exchanged the positive support each other, the higher marital satisfaction was. The more the couple used the negative styles in solving their conflict, the lower marital satisfaction was. The higher the one spouse's marital satisfaction was, the higher the other spouse's. Especially, both esteem support among marital support patterns and physical aggression among conflict resolution styles were highly related to marital satisfaction. In addition, there was modestly negative relationship between withdrawal and marital satisfaction.
Second, both spouses' conflict resolution styles synergistically influenced each spouse's marital satisfaction. A pattern of marital interaction in which the wife did not attempt to cooperate with the husband in solving conflicts and the husband used verbal aggression decreased the husband's marital satisfaction. Physical aggression of both wives and husbands decreased husbands' marital satisfaction. Husbands who frequently used verbal aggression tended to have low marital satisfaction when their wives frequently used physical aggression. Husbands who frequently used withdrawal tended to have low marital satisfaction when their wives frequently used physical aggression.
On the other hand, wives who frequently used verbal aggression to solve conflicts tended to have low marital satisfaction when their husbands frequently used verbal aggression style. For both husbands and wives, verbal aggression of wives and physical aggression of husbands decreased their own marital satisfaction.
Third, the husband who frequently solved conflicts with negative styles tended to have low marital satisfaction when his own wife frequently managed conflicts with negative styles. There was a tendency for the relationship between the wife's negative conflict resolution behavior and wife's own marital satisfaction to depend on the level of her husband's positive marital support.
Fourth, the spouses' negative life events stress and economic stress had an indirect association with their own marital satisfaction by decreasing their own positive marital support and by increasing their own negative conflict resolution behavior for both husbands and wives.
Fifth, it was found that spouses' marital support was more related to their own marital satisfaction than their conflict resolution behavior for both husbands and wives. The marital satisfaction was most affected by marital support not being related to kinds of stress for both husbands and wives. For the husband, neither his negative life events stress nor his economic stress influenced his support given to the wife, while for the wife, her more negative life events stress and more economic stress led to less frequent giving of her positive support to her husband, which in turn led to the lowering of her own marital satisfaction.
Sixth, economic stress reported by each spouse of the couple influenced their own marital satisfaction through their own partner's both marital support and conflict resolution behavior for both the husband and for the wife. In addition, there was evidence that the spouse's marital support was more related to the partner's own marital satisfaction than the spouse's conflicts resolution behavior for both husbands and wives. The marital satisfaction was most affected by marital support not being related to kinds of stress for both husbands and wives. For the husband, neither his own wife's marital support nor his own wife's conflict resolution behavior were influenced by his negative life events stress. On the other hand, for the wife, her negative life events stress was associated with her own husband's both marital support and conflict resolution behavior, which in turn affected declines of her own marital satisfaction.
Lastly, the implications and limitations of this study were discussed and the suggestions for further studies were recommended.