What are the Marital Problems of Happy Couples? A Multimethod, Two-Sample Investigation.

Abstract:

:How couples handle marital conflict may depend on what issues they are facing, as some issues may be more difficult to resolve than others. What is unclear, however, is what issues happy couples face and how these issues may be different for couples depending on their developmental stage. To explore this possibility, the current study used both self-reports and observations drawn from two separate samples of happily married couples-one early in middle adulthood (N = 57 couples; average marital duration = 9 years) and one in older adulthood (N = 64 couples; average marital duration = 42 years). Results indicated that all issues were relatively minor, but early middle-aged couples reported more significant problems than did older couples. As to determining the most salient topic for happy couples, it depended on the spouses' gender, developmental stage, and how salience was assessed (i.e., highest rated issue vs. most discussed issue). Only moderate links were found between what happy couples said was their most serious concern and what they actually tried to resolve during observations of marital problem-solving, but there were differences in how spouses behaved based on the proportion of their time discussing certain topics. Findings suggest that more attention should be devoted to understanding what marital issues happy couples discuss and why, as doing so may reveal how couples maintain their marital happiness. :Las maneras en las que las parejas manejan el conflicto conyugal puede depender de qué problemas enfrentan, ya que algunos problemas pueden ser más difíciles de resolver que otros. Sin embargo, lo que no está claro es qué problemas enfrentan las parejas felices y cómo estos pueden ser diferentes para las parejas según su etapa de desarrollo. Para analizar esta posibilidad, el presente estudio utilizó autoinformes y observaciones tomados de dos muestras distintas de parejas felizmente casadas: una a principios de la mediana edad (N = 57 parejas; duración conyugal promedio = 9 años) y una en la tercera edad (N = 64 parejas; duración conyugal promedio = 42 años). Los resultados indicaron que todos los problemas fueron relativamente menores, pero las parejas de principios de la mediana edad informaron problemas más importantes que las parejas mayores. En cuanto a la determinación del problema más prominente para las parejas felices, dependió del género de los cónyuges, la etapa de desarrollo y cómo se evaluó la prominencia (p. ej.: el problema más puntuado frente al problema más debatido). Solo se hallaron vínculos moderados entre lo que las parejas felices declararon como su mayor preocupación y lo que en realidad intentaron resolver durante las observaciones de la resolución de problemas conyugales, pero hubo diferencias en las maneras en las que los cónyuges se comportaron según la proporción de su tiempo debatiendo ciertos temas. Los resultados sugieren que debería dedicarse más atención a comprender qué problemas conyugales debaten las parejas felices y por qué, ya que hacerlo puede revelar cómo las parejas mantienen su felicidad conyugal. :伴侣如何处理婚姻中的冲突取决于他们面临的是何种问题,因为某些问题比起另一些问题解决起来更有难度。但是,尚待弄清楚的是幸福的伴侣所面临的问题究竟有哪些,以及关系处在不同的发展阶段时,这些问题怎么出现可能的不同之处的。为了研究这种可能性,本研究调查了两大组婚姻幸福的夫妻,一组样本为处于步入中年不久的成年人(N=57对,平均结婚年限=9年),另一组是成年老年夫妇(N=64对;平均结婚年限=42年),研究方法为自主汇报和观察等。结果显示所有的问题都相对而言不算重要的大问题,但是和比起年龄更大的伴侣,那些刚步入中年的伴侣报告的较大问题更多一些。至于幸福伴侣之间最突出的话题,哪些因素起到决定性作用取决于配偶的性别,婚姻发展阶段和突出程度的鉴别(即得分最多的问题还是实际讨论最多的话题)。幸福的伴侣言语上声称的他们最大的那些烦恼和在观察他们处理婚姻问题时看到的实际尽力解决的事情之间其实相关联系程度不是特别大。不过,根据实际讨论某些话题所花的时间上看配偶如何具体表现的还是能发现有一些差别。本研究发现更多的注意力应该放在幸福伴侣讨论的婚姻问题有哪些和产生的原因是什么,因为这样做可以发现夫妻双方是如何维系婚姻幸福的。.

journal_name

Fam Process

journal_title

Family process

authors

Rauer A,Sabey AK,Proulx CM,Volling BL

doi

10.1111/famp.12483

subject

Has Abstract

pub_date

2020-09-01 00:00:00

pages

1275-1292

issue

3

eissn

0014-7370

issn

1545-5300

journal_volume

59

pub_type

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