Top

Gepubliceerd in:

16-09-2015 | Original Paper

Relationship Self-Regulation and Relationship Quality: The Moderating Influence of Gender

Auteurs: Kevin Shafer, Spencer L. James, Jeffry H. Larson

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Child and Family Studies | Uitgave 4/2016

Abstract

Relationship quality, as measured by relationship satisfaction and stability, is important to understanding how happy a couple is and the chances their relationship will end. Prior research has linked two aspects of relationship self-regulation (RSR), effort and strategies to improve a relationship, to increased levels of satisfaction and stability, but has not yet examined if gender moderates this association. Our paper addresses how both aspects of RSR are associated with increases in satisfaction and stability for male and female partners using data from the RELATionship Evaluation Survey. In the sample of 8006 men and women in a variety of romantic unions, we find that both aspects of RSR are positively associated with both aspects of relationship quality, but that this association is stronger for women’s reports of satisfaction than men’s. Additionally, relationship effort has a slightly stronger association with stability for women than men. Both clinical and research applications of these findings are discussed.

vorige artikel A Comparative Policy Analysis of Family Preservation Programs in the U.S. and in Taiwan

volgende artikel Immigrant Parent Legal Status, Parent–Child Relationships, and Child Social Emotional Wellbeing: A Middle Childhood Perspective

Amato, P. R., & Booth, A. (1997). A generation at risk: Growing up in an era of family upheaval. Cambridge: Harvard Univ Press.

Amato, P. R., Booth, A., Johnson, D. R., & Rogers, S. J. (2007). Alone together: How marriage in America is changing. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Amato, P. R., Kane, J. B., & James, S. (2011). Reconsidering the “good divorce”. Family Relations, 60(5), 511–524. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2011.00666.x.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Bernard, J. (1982). The future of marriage. Yale: Yale University Press.

Blow, A. J., Sprenkle, D. H., & Davis, S. D. (2007). Is who delivers the treatment more important than the treatment itself? The role of the therapist in common factors. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 33(3), 298–317.CrossRefPubMed

Bradbury, T. N., Fincham, F. D., & Beach, S. R. H. (2000). Research on the nature and determinants of marital satisfaction: A decade in review. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 964–980.CrossRef

Brown, S. L. (2000). Union transitions among cohabitors: The significance of relationship assessments and expectations. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62, 833–846.CrossRef

Brown, S. L. (2004). Moving from cohabitation to marriage: Effects on relationship quality. Social Science Research, 33(1), 1–19. doi:10.1016/S0049-089x(03)00036-X.CrossRef

Brown, S. L., & Booth, A. (1996). Cohabitation versus marriage: A comparison of relationship quality. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58(3), 668–678.CrossRef

Busby, D. M., Holman, T. B., & Taniguchi, N. (2001). RELATE: Relationship evaluation of the individual, family, cultural, and couple contexts. Family Relations, 50(4), 308–316.CrossRef

Canary, D. J., Stafford, L., & Semic, B. A. (2002). A panel study of the associations between maintenance strategies and relational characteristics. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(2), 395–406.CrossRef

Cole, C. L., & Cole, A. L. (1999). Boundary ambiguities that bind former spouses together after the children leave home in post-divorce families. Family Relations, 48(3), 271–272.CrossRef

Culp, L. N., & Beach, S. R. (1998). Marriage and depressive symptoms. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 22(4), 647–663.CrossRef

Davis, S. D., Lebow, J. L., & Sprenkle, D. H. (2012). Common factors of change in couple therapy. Behavior Therapy, 43(1), 36–48.CrossRefPubMed

England, P. (2000). Marriage, the costs of children, and gender inequality (pp. 320–342). The ties that bind: Perspectives on marriage and cohabitation.

Gabriel, B., Beach, S. R., & Bodenmann, G. (2010). Depression, marital satisfaction and communication in couples: Investigating gender differences. Behavior Therapy, 41(3), 306–316.CrossRefPubMed

Glenn, N. D. (1998). The course of marital success and failure in five American 10-year marriage cohorts. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60(3), 569–576.CrossRef

Halford, W. K. (2011). Marriage and relationship education: What works and how to provide it. New York: The Guilford Press.

Halford, W. K., Lizzio, A., Wilson, K. L., & Occhipinti, S. (2007). Does working at your marriage help? Couple relationship self-regulation and satisfaction in the first 4 years of marriage. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(2), 185–194. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.21.2.185.CrossRefPubMed

Halford, W. K., Sanders, M. R., & Behrens, B. C. (1994). Self-regulation in behavioral couples’ therapy. Behavior Therapy, 25(3), 431–452.CrossRef

Hawkins, D. N., & Booth, A. (2005). Unhappily ever after: Effects of long-term, low-quality marriages on well-being. Social Forces, 84(1), 451–471.CrossRef

Heaton, T. B. (2002). Factors contributing to increasing marital stability in the United States. Journal of Family Issues, 23(3), 392–409.CrossRef

Hoffmann, J. P., & Shafer, K. (2015). Linear regression analysis: Assumptions and applications. Washington, D.C.: NASW Press.

Jackson, J. B., Miller, R. B., Oka, M., & Henry, R. G. (2014). Gender differences in marital satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage and Family, 76(1), 105–129.CrossRef

James, S. L. (2015). Variation in trajectories of women’s marital quality. Social Science Research, 49(1), 16–30.CrossRefPubMed

Johnson, D. R., & Young, R. (2011). Toward best practices in analyzing datasets with missing data: Comparisons and recommendations. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73(5), 926–945.CrossRef

Monin, J. K., & Clark, M. S. (2011). Why do men benefit more from marriage than do women? Thinking more broadly about interpersonal processes that occur within and outside of marriage. Sex Roles, 65(5–6), 320–326. doi:10.1007/s11199-011-0008-3.CrossRef

Monin, J. K., Clark, M. S., & Lemay, E. P. (2008). Communal responsiveness in relationships with female versus male family members. Sex Roles, 59(3–4), 176–188. doi:10.1007/s11199-008-9420-8.CrossRef

Olson, D. H., Russell, C. S., & Sprenkle, D. H. (2004). Circumplex model of marital and family systems: Vl. Theoretical update. Family Process, 22(1), 69–83.CrossRef

Proulx, C. M., Helms, H. M., & Buehler, C. (2007). Marital quality and personal well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69(3), 576–593.CrossRef

Shafer, K., Jensen, T. M., & Larson, J. H. (2014a). Relationship effort, satisfaction, and stability: Differences across union type. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 40(2), 212–232.CrossRefPubMed

Shafer, K., Jensen, T. M., & Larson, J. H. (2014b). An actor-partner model of relationship effort and marital quality. Family Relations, 63(5), 654–666.CrossRef

Simon, R. W. (2002). Revisiting the relationships among gender, marital status, and mental health. American Journal of Sociology, 107(4), 1065–1096.CrossRef

Skinner, K. B., Bahr, S. J., Crane, D. R., & Call, V. R. (2002). Cohabitation, marriage, and remarriage—a comparison of relationship quality over time. Journal of Family Issues, 23(1), 74–90.CrossRef

Sprenkle, D. H., & Blow, A. J. (2004). Common factors and our sacred models. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 30(2), 113–129.CrossRefPubMed

Sweeney, M. M. (2002). Remarriage and the nature of divorce: Does it matter which spouse chose to leave? Journal of Family Issues, 23(3), 410–440.CrossRef

Thompson, L., & Walker, A. J. (1995). The place of feminism in family studies. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57(4), 847–865.CrossRef

Twenge, J. M., Campbell, W. K., & Foster, C. A. (2003). Parenthood and marital satisfaction: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65(3), 574–583.CrossRef

Umberson, D., & Williams, K. (2005). Marital quality, health, and aging: Gender equity? Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 60(2), S109–S113.CrossRef

Umberson, D., Williams, K., Powers, D. A., Liu, H., & Needham, B. (2006). You make me sick: Marital quality and health over the life course. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 47(1), 1–16.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Waller, M. R., & McLanahan, S. S. (2005). “His” and “her” marriage expectations: Determinants and consequences. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(1), 53–67. doi:10.1111/j.0022-2445.2005.00005.x.CrossRef

Wanic, R., & Kulik, J. (2011). Toward an understanding of gender differences in the impact of marital conflict on health. Sex Roles, 65(5–6), 297–312. doi:10.1007/s11199-011-9968-6.CrossRef

Wilson, K. L., Charker, J., Lizzio, A., Halford, K., & Kimlin, S. (2005). Assessing how much couples work at their relationship: The behavioral self-regulation for effective relationships scale. Journal of Family Psychology, 19(3), 385–393. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.19.3.385.CrossRefPubMed

Wolfinger, N. H. (2011). More evidence for trends in the intergenerational transmission of divorce: A completed cohort approach using data from the general social survey. Demography, 48(2), 581–592. doi:10.1007/s13524-011-0025-4.CrossRefPubMed

Titel: Relationship Self-Regulation and Relationship Quality: The Moderating Influence of Gender
Auteurs: Kevin Shafer
Spencer L. James
Jeffry H. Larson
Publicatiedatum: 16-09-2015
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Child and Family Studies / Uitgave 4/2016
Print ISSN: 1062-1024
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-2843
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0294-4

Bohn Stafleu van Loghum

Deel dit onderdeel of sectie (kopieer de link)

Abstract

Log in om toegang te krijgen

Andere artikelen Uitgave 4/2016

The Parenting Behaviors of Shy–Anxious Mothers: The Moderating Role of Vagal Tone

Staff Intervention and Youth Behaviors in a Child Welfare Residence

The Influence of General Discrimination and Social Context on Young Urban Expecting Couples’ Mental Health

Does Mother–Child Interaction Mediate the Relation Between Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Children’s Mental Health Problems?

Screening for Significant Behavior Problems in Diverse Young Children Living in Poverty

Maternal Depression and Children’s Cognitive and Socio-Emotional Development at First Grade: The Moderating Role of Classroom Emotional Climate