Gender, satisfaction level, and the use of relational maintenance strategies in marriage

Abstract

Previous research on the use of relational maintenance strategies in marriage was replicated and extended by examining diary logs of 103 married couples kept over a twoweek period. Gender differences within the marital dyads were examined. Additionally, the effect of relational satisfaction or comparison level was explored, in terms of an interdependence theory explanation of relational maintenance strategy use. The results showed significant differences between husbands and wives for openness, network, and especially tasks strategies. Wives invariably used more of each type of relational maintenance strategy than their husbands. No effects of relational satisfaction emerged, which suggested that an interdependence theory explanation of relational maintenance strategy use may be inappropriate. An ad hoc assessment of the effect of length of marriage on strategy use was significant and indicated a general decline in the use of all types of strategies as years married increased.

“I Just Can’t Clean the Bathroom as Well as You Can!”: Communicating Domestic Labor Task Equity-Resistance and Equity-Restoring Strategies Among Married Individuals

“…Sharing tasks is one of the predominant relational maintenance strategies that individuals use to sustain their relationship (Dainton & Gross, 2008;Stafford & Canary, 1991;1992). Ragsdale's (1996) findings indicate that task sharing is "the most frequent relational maintenance strategy … and the one producing the largest gender difference" (p. 364). Differing from the concept of equality, couples report that they share certain tasks, both inside and outside of the household, in various proportions to comprise an equitable division of labor (Brines, 1993;Poortman & Van Der Lippe, 2009).…”

“…Domestic labor was considered within an equity framework, because the household task division is regularly reported as a major source of relationship conflict, a noted source of relationship inequity (Bartley et al, 2011;Chethik, 2006), and part of task sharing which is a primary relational maintenance behavior (Dainton & Gross, 2008;Stafford & Canary, 1991). Further, equity-restoration and equity-resistance were examined in terms of relationship length as an alternative explanation to equity to explain relational maintenance patterns (Ragsdale, 1996).…”

“…Relationship length provides an alternative explanation for frequency of relational maintenance patterns (Ragsdale, 1996). From a relational maintenance perspective, relationship length has been negatively associated with one indicator of relationship maintenance -sharing tasks, which includes the division of household labor (Ragsdale, 1996;Weigel & Ballard-Reisch, 1999). In fact, individuals report sharing tasks more during the early years of their marriage then gradually decrease their task sharing over time (Weigel & Ballard-Reisch, 1999).…”

“…Relationship Length While equity theory offers one explanation for how relational partners use communication in an attempt to change the distribution of household tasks, it has been scrutinized both in terms of explanatory power and in methodological application (Ledbetter, Stassen-Ferrara, & Dowd, 2013;Ragsdale & Brandau-Brown, 2007a;2007b). Relationship length provides an alternative explanation for frequency of relational maintenance patterns (Ragsdale, 1996). From a relational maintenance perspective, relationship length has been negatively associated with one indicator of relationship maintenance -sharing tasks, which includes the division of household labor (Ragsdale, 1996;Weigel & Ballard-Reisch, 1999).…”

Putting Emotional Reactivity in its Place? Exploring Family-of-origin Influences on Emotional Reactivity, Conflict, and Satisfaction in Premarital Couples

“…It is possible that these tendencies, learned in the family of origin, persist into adolescence and early adulthood and encourage females to take more of the ''blame'' for relational problems, and males to look outside themselves for causes of distress. This may partially account for the more frequent use of general relationship maintenance behaviors in women, who many suggest are socialized to be responsible for the upkeep of their relationships (Canary and Stafford 1992;Ragsdale 1996). Further work on comprehensive longitudinal models such as the risky families model (Repetti et al 2002) and Troxel and Matthews' (2004) model may need to consider differential effects and outcomes of family-of-origin stressors on male and female offspring beyond the internalization/externalization distinction.…”