Marital Relationships Following the Korean Economic Crisis: Applying the Family Stress Model

Abstract

In response to the recent economic crisis in Korea and its negative effects on families, the current study examined the interrelationships among economic pressure, emotional distress, marital conflict, and marital satisfaction for 236 Korean couples. The family stress model (Conger & Elder, 1994; Conger, Rueter, & Conger, 2000; Conger, Rueter, & Elder, 1999) was tested using structural equation modeling. The results generally supported the theoretical model, showing that economic pressure negatively affects marital satisfaction via emotional distress and marital conflict. The results also implied cultural differences in the process of family stress. Korean husbands' emotional distress did not affect marital conflict or marital satisfaction, suggesting that Korean husbands may differ from their wives in their reaction to emotional distress from economic pressure.

Relational Financial Therapy: An Innovative and Collaborative Treatment Approach

“…Economic pressure may provoke parental depression, demoralization, anger, hostility, and irritability, and may exacerbate spousal conflict, which has a direct influence on the marital relationship in terms of marital satisfaction. It also tends to reduce the level of effort relative to effective parenting and parental nurturance (Conger et al 1990(Conger et al , 1999Kwon et al 2003).…”

“…In another recent study conducted by Kwon et al (2003), changes in marital relationships after the Korean economic crisis of the late 1990s were investigated. Applying the family stress model (Conger et al 2000), the researchers studied Korean middle-class parents of adolescents (mean age of 14 years) in 1998, about a year after the economic crisis hit the country .…”

“…A number of studies have been conducted to investigate this reciprocal relationship (Aniol and Snyder 1997;Elder et al 1986;Gudmunson et al 2007;Kerkmann et al 2000;Kwon et al 2003;Papp et al 2009;Vinokur et al 1996), and for years feminist family therapists have been urging couple and family therapists to assess the dynamics between money and power among couples in intimate relationships. As noted by Parker (2003, p. 228), ''money buys privilege in the world and at home.''…”

Financial Declines, Financial Behaviors, and Relationship Satisfaction during the Recession

“…The model whereby negative economic events lead to economic pressure, then worse affective states, and finally declines in marital quality is termed the family stress model of economic pressure and marital distress, or simply the family stress model (Conger & Elder, 1994). In addition to validating the family stress model using U.S. nationally-representative data (Dew, 2007;Gudmunson et al, 2007), researchers have validated the family stress model across countries and cultures (Kinnunen & Pulkkinen, 1998;Kwon, Rueter, Lee, Koh, & Ok, 2003). This study uses the family stress model as the main framework of this study.…”

Division of Household Labor and Marital Satisfaction in China, Japan, and Korea

“…Indeed, Lee, Um, & Kim (2004) found higher levels of depression for Korean women who have difficulty balancing work in the market work and work at home. In addition, Kwon, Rueter, Lee, Koh, and Ok (2003) observed that economic pressure negatively affected marital satisfaction after the country experienced the economic crisis of 1997.…”