Perceived Partner Responsiveness Mediates the Association Between Sexual and Marital Satisfaction: A Daily Diary Study in Newlywed Couples

Abstract

Sexuality is an integral part of intimate relationships, yet surprisingly little is known about how and for whom sexuality matters. The present research investigated the interplay of sexual and non-sexual factors that contribute to relationship satisfaction. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that the association between sexual satisfaction and marital satisfaction is mediated by a non-sexual factor-namely, perceived partner responsiveness (PPR). Additionally, we tested the role of gender as a possible moderator of this mediated association. Thirty-four newlywed couples completed diaries with each spouse reporting their sexual satisfaction, marital satisfaction, and PPR every day for 30 days. We tested our predictions at both the person level (i.e., the mean level across 30 days) and the daily level. At the person level, we found that sexual satisfaction and PPR separately predicted marital satisfaction. Moreover, the effect of sexual satisfaction on marital satisfaction was partially mediated by PPR. No gender differences emerged at this level. At the daily level, we found similar support for partial mediation. However, at this level, gender did serve as a moderator. The stronger mediation found for women was driven by a stronger association between sexual satisfaction and PPR for women than for men. This study joins a growing literature highlighting the role of PPR in dyadic relationships.

All's well that ends well? A test of the peak‐end rule in couples’ conflict discussions

“…These three items were aggregated to obtain a measure of perceived partner responsiveness by calculating each participant's mean for each conversation. It must be noted that these items were also originally included to assess perceived partner responsiveness (Gadassi et al, 2015;Maisel & Gable, 2009).…”

How do Money, Sex, and Stress Influence Marital Instability?

“…Andersen, 2005). Likewise, there have been many studies linking sexual factors to marital satisfaction (e.g., Gadassi et al, 2016;McNulty, Wenner, & Fisher, 2016) and marital instability (e.g., Yeh, Lorenz, Wickrama, Conger, & Elder, 2006;Yucel, 2016). In addition, a few studies have introduced mediators to see what factors might eliminate or lessen the adverse effect that financial and sexual stressors have on marital satisfaction and stability (e.g., Carroll, Hill, Yorgason, Larson, & Sandberg, 2013;Dew, 2009;Yeh et al, 2006).…”

Uncovering general, shared, and unique temporal patterns in ambulatory assessment data

“…The present paper provides evidence that with some consideration, S-GIMME can be applied to ambulatory assessment data, of which daily diary data is a specific type. Here, daily diaries were specifically chosen because (a) they are an oft used variant of ambulatory assessment both historically (e.g., Borkenau & Orstendorf, 1998;Lebo & Nesselroade, 1978;Searles, Perrine, Mundt, & Helzer, 1995;Zevon & Tellegen, 1982) and at present (e.g., Bachrach & Read, 2017;Castro-Schilo & Ferrer, 2016;Gadassi et al, 2016;Hamaker, Grasman, & Kamphuis, 2016;Lee et al, 2017;Zimmermann et al, in press), and (b) the sampling rate is sometimes conducted at relatively equal spacing, an advantageous feature for time-series data in the current modeling context 1 . Nevertheless, application to daily diary data presents novel analytic concerns which may be absent in neuroimaging data.…”