How do constraints on leaving a marriage affect behavior within the marriage?

Abstract

Like relationship satisfaction, constraints on leaving a relationship have been described as a component of global commitment. But do constraints increase or decrease efforts to maintain the relationship? To address this question, the authors of the current article describe 3 independent studies of spouses and married couples. Across all studies, wives who perceived more constraints on leaving the marriage exhibited lower levels of negative behavior only when their husbands were relatively unconstrained. In Study 3, this association was especially pronounced among less satisfied wives. In Study 2, spouses' perceived constraint also interacted to predict husbands' behavior, but in the opposite direction: Husbands who perceived more constraints behaved less negatively when their wives were similarly constrained but more negatively when their wives were less constrained. These results highlight differences in behavior between couples who persist in marriage because they desire to and those who endure because they have to, raising questions about measures of global commitment that obscure these distinctions. They also highlight the need for a dyadic perspective on the forces that keep relationships together.

Physical aggression in unmarried relationships: The roles of commitment and constraints.

“…Second, some of the perceived constraint scales had low internal consistency, which may have limited statistical power to detect to differences among the groups on these scales. Third, some research has indicated that the ways in which constraints affect verbal aggression in relationships may depend in part on the other partner’s sense of constraints (Frye et al, 2008). Thus, future research on commitment and physical aggression could benefit from measuring both partners in a dyad.…”

The Dark Side of Forgiveness: The Tendency to Forgive Predicts Continued Psychological and Physical Aggression in Marriage

“…Although data from the sample described here are described in other articles (Baker & McNulty, 2010, in press; Fisher & McNulty, 2008; Frye, McNulty, & Karney, 2008; Little, McNulty, & Russell, 2010; Luchies, Finkel, McNulty, & Kumashiro, 2010; McNulty, 2008a, 2008b; McNulty & Fisher, 2008; McNulty & Hellmuth, 2008; McNulty & Russell, 2010; Russell & McNulty, 2011), there has been little overlap between the variables examined in these prior articles and the variables examined here. The two exceptions are that the five items that assessed participants’ tendencies to express forgiveness at baseline used in the present article were used in conjunction with five other items to that assessed participants tendencies to feel forgiveness to (a) predict changes in satisfaction and problems over 2 years in McNulty (2008a) and (b) predict changes in self-respect over 4.5 years in Luchies et al (2010).…”

Self-compassion and relationship maintenance: The moderating roles of conscientiousness and gender.

“…Although data from this sample are described in several articles (Baker & McNulty, 2010; Fisher & McNulty, 2008; Frye, McNulty, & Karney, 2008; Little, McNulty, & Russell, 2010; Luchies, Finkel, McNulty, & Kumashiro, 2010; McNulty, 2008a, 2008b; McNulty & Fisher, 2008; McNulty & Hellmuth, 2008; McNulty & Russell, 2010), there is little overlap between the variables examined in those studies and the variables examined here. The one exception is that McNulty and Russell described the same trajectories of marital satisfaction.…”