Identifying happy, healthy marriages for men, women, and children.

Abstract

In an effort to identify those characteristics that contribute to relationship dysfunction, the field of marital research has struggled with constructing a clean conceptualization of what successful relationships are. According to Weiss and Heyman (1997), marital health has been characterized by what it isn't. To address what it is, this dissertation utilized observational and self report data collected from 59 happily-married couples and their young children to explore healthy marriages for husbands, wives, and children. The specific aims were: (1) to identify different types of couples based on their conflict resolution, communication, support, and commitment; (2) to examine which marriages were associated with better spouses' and children's well-being; and (3) to examine the personal and environmental factors that were associated with variability within these couples. Cluster analyses revealed four different clusters: (1) a <italic> mutual negativity</italic> cluster (characterized by high negative problem solving on the part of both spouses in the absence of positive behaviors); (2) a <italic>supportive husband</italic> cluster (high positive husband behaviors combined with moderately positive wife behaviors); (3) a <italic> mutual commitment</italic> cluster (high commitment, moderate positive behaviors, lower negative behaviors); and (4) a <italic>wife compensation</italic> cluster (very high positive and very low negative behaviors on the part of the wife in the face of high husband negativity). This variability in happily-married couples had important implications for well-being. Although no single cluster emerged as the uniformly optimal marital cluster, both the supportive husband and mutual commitment clusters were associated with greater marital and individual functioning, although this was more consistently the case in comparison to the wife compensation cluster, as opposed to the mutual negativity cluster. The common characteristic of the supportive husband and mutual commitment clusters was the husbands' positive behaviors, highlighting the importance of the husbands' behaviors for both spouses' well-being. Using the definition that healthy marriages are those that promote well-being underscored that there were multiple ways to have a happy, healthy marriage. Given the current drive to promote healthy marriages, being able to design programs that are tailored to meet the needs of different types of couples will likely enhance the efficacy of these efforts.