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Emotions in Marriage: Understanding Marital Exchanges and the Impact of Stress

Bradshaw, Meggan Ruth
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1245443637

Abstract Details

2009, MA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences.
The deleterious effects of negative emotions on relationships are well documented. However, while researchers have shown that positive emotions can buffer negative emotions, the process by which positive emotions influence negative emotions in marital exchanges is less clear. Researchers have examined positive sentiment override (PSO) in marital exchanges and found that PSO effectively buffered against low intensities of negative affect, but with high-intensities of negative affect, PSO was ineffective and marital dissolution was predicted. The current thesis uses two studies to examine the role positive emotions play in marital exchanges: 1) a nationally representative sample of 2,286 married/cohabiting individuals, and 2) a more in-depth examination of 104 married/cohabiting couples expecting their first child. Results from multiple linear regression analyses for the first study suggested that for destructive marital exchanges, positive emotions moderated negative emotions, such that positive emotions buffered low and moderate levels of negative emotion while losing its impact at high levels of negative emotion. Results from multiple linear regression analyses for the second study only found main effects and no interactions. The lack of an interaction between positive and negative emotions and marital exchanges may be due to a limited sample size or it may be indicative of a different relationship between positive and negative emotions in marital exchanges during the transition to parenthood. Overall, results support the importance of positive emotions in marital exchanges. Future research using a longitudinal study should examine the role of positive emotions in marital exchanges beyond pregnancy and childbirth, and also identify the directional nature of the relationship between emotions and marital exchanges.
Kristin Mickelson, PhD (Advisor)
John Updegraff, PhD (Committee Member)
Dan Neal, PhD (Committee Member)
John Dunlosky, PhD (Committee Member)
64 p.
Psychology
marriage; marital relationships; stress; positive emotions; negative emotions; parenthood; pregnancy

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Bradshaw, M. R. (2009). Emotions in Marriage: Understanding Marital Exchanges and the Impact of Stress [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1245443637

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bradshaw, Meggan. Emotions in Marriage: Understanding Marital Exchanges and the Impact of Stress. 2009. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1245443637.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bradshaw, Meggan. "Emotions in Marriage: Understanding Marital Exchanges and the Impact of Stress." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1245443637

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1245443637
1,446
© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.