Understanding Marital Satisfaction and Couple Type as Functions of Relational Expectations

Abstract

The present study examined the role played by relational expectations in determining marital satisfaction and in discriminating between married couple types. The discrep ancy between one's expectations for his or her spouse's relntiorral behavior and one's perceptions of his or her spouse's actual behavior significantly predicted marital sutisfaction. Discrepancy scoresfor the relational dimensions of intimacy, distance, equality/ trust, dominance, and noncomposurelarousal appear to be most central in predicting satisfaction. While agreement between spouses on relational expectations significantly predicted satisfaction, expectationlperception discrepancies were reoealed to be stronger predictors than agreement scores. There were no dvferences in relational expectations when compared across couple type; however, intimacy and noncomposure/arousul displayed significant diflerences when compared across wives' individual marital type. Overall, intimacy, noncomposurdarousal, and equalityltrust played central roles in understanding marital satisfaction. U nderstanding marital functioning is an issue long pursued by researchers in communication and psychology. Evaluation of marital relationships has taken many forms based on various criteria for determining relational effectiveness. Probably the most frequently used criterion for assessing the functionality of marital relationships is the construct of satisfaction. The satisfaction experienced by each marital partner is considered by most theorists to be the best predictor of marital stability (Lewis & Spanier, 1979).

Structuring the concept of relational communication

“…At least within the context of social interaction, it appears that dominance is a less complex concept than affiliation. 5 Similar to our findings, several other studies have found that dominance and equality were perceived as distinct constructs (Burgoon & Hale, 1987, Study 3;Kelley & Burgoon, 1991 ;Walther & Burgoon, 1992). Notably, equality is not viewed as the midpoint on a dominance-submissiveness continuum.…”

The Dynamic Goal Theory of Marital Satisfaction

“…For example, Kelley and Burgoon (1991) reported that whether the spouse's behaviors met with one's marital expectations was a stronger predictor of marital satisfaction than the agreement between spouses. Moreover, different relationship expectations were found to affect relationship quality with varying strength.…”

Widening the gap: Support gaps in same race versus different race female friendship dyads

“…In terms of expectations, communicators assess deviations from what they expect during an interaction, and under certain conditions these violations lead to negative outcomes. For example, Kelly and Burgoon (1991) documented that unmet expectations for intimacy in married couples correspond with reduced satisfaction. Along these lines, we contend that unmet expectations for support also lead to detrimental outcomes.…”