This article describes three coding systems used to analyze systematically joint narratives told by 344 black and white newlywed couples about the `story of their relationship', as part of a program of study of the early years of marriage. The first coding system of these accounts captures the affects mentioned in the stories; the second assesses husband-wife interactions in telling the stories; and the third identifies styles and themes characterizing both the overall story and specific substories within the narratives. A summary of results based on these coding schemes is outlined. Several narrative measures were found to be related to marital quality over time. A number of these measures help clarify ways in which black couples ( n = 176) in comparison to white couples ( n = 167) are alike and ways in which they are different. We discuss the role of these coding schemes for capturing `meaning-making' in story construction. In addition, we illustrate the possibility for analyzing changes in narrative memory and its connection to affective development in people.

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Two main questions guided this research: (a) How do newlyweds' affective statements and interactive styles found in narratives told about their relation-ship help us understand the meaning they make of their marriages? (b) How does analysis of the affective statements and interactive styles of Black couples (n = 136) in comparison to White couples (n = 135) help us understand the differential meaning in these groups? The representative sample was inter-viewed from 5 to 8 months after marriage. The narrative procedure asked the couples to tell the story of their relationship. By and large, Black couples and White couples showed similar patterns of affective reactions: They were gener-ally positive, emphasizing individual rather than communal affects, many of which dealt with the external world rather than their own interpersonal lives. In comparison to White husbands, Black husbands are more often perceived as the focus of affective life in the relationship. White couples refer to the external world in their affective statements more frequently than Black couples. With regard to interactive styles in the storytelling, there were more Black-White differences. Although most couples' interactions were mainly collaborative, Blacks showed less cooperative styles of interaction and greater conflict than did Whites. Using the developmental, cultural variant, and cultural equiva-lent perspectives, the article presents interpretations of the similimilarities and differences found for Black and White couples' narratives.(Psychology; an-thropology)