Couple-Level Attachment Styles, Finances, and Marital Satisfaction: Mediational Analyses Among Young Adult Newlywed Couples

Abstract

Guided by attachment theory and the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation model, we used three-annual-wave, dyadic data from a nationally representative sample of 1136 young-adult newlywed couples to investigate two research aims. First, we conducted a Latent Profile Analysis to identify couple-level attachment styles at Time 1 (i.e., within the first 2 years of marriage) based on the combination of husbands' and wives' attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance. Second, after conceptualizing couple-level attachment styles at Time 1 as vulnerability, we then examined whether finance-specific adaptive processes at Time 2 (i.e., 1 year after Time 1) mediated associations from couple-level attachment styles at Time 1 to marital satisfaction at Time 3 (i.e., 1 year after Time 2). Several findings are noteworthy. First, four different types of couple-level attachment styles were found. Second, for mediators, only perceived partner financial mismanagement mediated associations from couple-level attachment styles at Time 1 to marital satisfaction at Time 3. We discuss how the four different couple-level styles highlight the diversity and complexity in how the two partners' attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance combine together as well as why perceived partner financial mismanagement (i.e., the lack of adaptive processes) mediated associations between couple-level attachment styles and marital satisfaction.

Money to Marriage, or Marriage to Money? Examining the Directionality Between Financial Processes and Marital Processes Among Newlywed Couples

“…Previous research suggests that financial behaviors and financial communication are associated with marital outcomes (e.g., Hill et al, 2017; Li et al, 2021). Despite theoretical (Archuleta & Burr, 2015) and empirical (Dew et al, 2021; Skogrand et al, 2011; Zagorsky, 2005) ambiguity regarding the directionality of these associations, the majority of scholars have assumed that financial processes predict relationship processes (e.g., Afifi et al, 2018; Dew & Xiao, 2013; Gajos et al, 2022; Hill et al, 2017; Li et al, 2020; 2021; Saxey et al, 2021; 2022; Ward et al, 2021; Wickrama & O’Neal, 2019).…”

“…Previous research suggests that financial behaviors and financial communication are associated with marital outcomes (e.g., Hill et al, 2017; Li et al, 2021). Despite theoretical (Archuleta & Burr, 2015) and empirical (Dew et al, 2021; Skogrand et al, 2011; Zagorsky, 2005) ambiguity regarding the directionality of these associations, the majority of scholars have assumed that financial processes predict relationship processes (e.g., Afifi et al, 2018; Dew & Xiao, 2013; Gajos et al, 2022; Hill et al, 2017; Li et al, 2020; 2021; Saxey et al, 2021; 2022; Ward et al, 2021; Wickrama & O’Neal, 2019). Using data from 1220 mixed-gender newlywed couples and through the lens of CFT (Archuleta & Burr, 2015), we tested the directionality between financial behaviors and marital satisfaction, between financial behaviors and financial communication, and between financial communication and marital satisfaction across two waves of data.…”

“…While the association between financial strain and relationship satisfaction seems to be robust (Falconier & Jackson, 2020), scholars have examined financial behaviors and relationship outcomes less. Nonetheless, the few studies that have examined financial behaviors and relationship outcomes (e.g., marital satisfaction, relationship happiness, and sexual satisfaction) have shown that better financial behaviors were associated with better relationship outcomes (Dew & Xiao, 2013; Li et al, 2020; 2021; Saxey et al, 2021). Therefore, it is possible that financial behaviors may predict marital satisfaction more strongly than vice versa.…”

“…Researchers have shown that if couples manage their money in sound ways, their marriages may benefit (Dew et al, 2021; Dew & Xiao, 2013; Li et al, 2021; Saxey et al, 2021). Interestingly, scholars have also shown (Dew et al, 2021) that the quality of a marriage may precede positive financial behaviors (i.e., financial behaviors that help individuals achieve financial goals and financial wellbeing; Xiao, 2016).…”

Economic distress and perceptions of sexual intimacy in remarriage

“…From a MFDT standpoint, it could be argued that these findings are evidence of how the strain of economic distress, possibly brought on by the vocational dimension, impede healthy development in the couple dimension . Couples might benefit from resources (e.g., interventions) that would teach them effective money management strategies (Li et al, 2021).…”