Does Couples' Communication Predict Marital Satisfaction, or Does Marital Satisfaction Predict Communication?. Issue 3 (22nd March 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lavner, Justin A.; Karney, Benjamin R.; Bradbury, Thomas N.
• Is Part Of: Journal of marriage and family. Volume 78:Issue 3(2016:Apr.)
• Page Start: 680
• Page End: 694
• Publication Date: 2016-03-22
• Subjects: communication -- low‐income families -- marriage and close relationships -- satisfaction; Family -- Periodicals; Marriage -- Periodicals; 306.805
• DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12301
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-2445

Abstract

Abstract : The quality of communication between spouses is widely assumed to affect their subsequent judgments of relationship satisfaction, yet this assumption is rarely tested against the alternative prediction that communication is merely a consequence of spouses' prior levels of satisfaction. To evaluate these perspectives, newlywed couples' positivity, negativity, and effectiveness were observed four times at 9‐month intervals, and these behaviors were examined in relation to corresponding self‐reports of relationship satisfaction. Cross‐sectionally, relatively satisfied couples engaged in more positive, less negative, and more effective communication. Longitudinally, reliable communication‐to‐satisfaction and satisfaction‐to‐communication associations were identified, yet neither pathway was particularly robust. These findings raise important doubts about theories and interventions that prioritize couple communication skills as the key predictor of relationship satisfaction, while raising new questions about other factors that might predict communication and satisfaction and that strengthen or moderate their association.