Conflict over money is one of the most commonly cited topics of marital disagreements (Oggins, 2003). However, little empirical research has examined how marital couples communicate about financial issues, specifically, and how these financial communication messages contribute to, or detract from, marital satisfaction. Knowledge about how couples communicate regarding financial issues is of significance to conflict scholars because it would allow us to understand the potential detriments of certain financial conflict message patterns and how these patterns ultimately affect one’s marital satisfaction. Married individuals (not marital dyads) were recruited online to participate in an online survey about their financial communication patterns within his or her marriage. In the present study of 326 married individuals, we found that constructive financial conflict messages were positively associated with financial harmony, marital satisfaction, and financial communication satisfaction. Destructive financial conflict messages, the demand-withdraw financial conflict message pattern, and mutually avoiding financial conflict were each negatively associated with financial harmony, marital satisfaction, and financial communication satisfaction. In addition, financial communication satisfaction mediated the relationship between each of the financial conflict message patterns and marital satisfaction. The current study lays empirical groundwork for developing a theoretical framework for understanding marital interaction patterns and the effects these patterns have on marital satisfaction.
References
[1]
Archuleta, K. L., Britt, S. L., Tonn, T. J., & Grable, J. E. (2011). Financial Satisfaction and Financial Stressors in Marital Satisfaction. Psychological Reports, 108, 563-576. https://doi.org/10.2466/07.21.PR0.108.2.563-576
[2]
Atwood, J. D. (2012). Couples and Money: The Last Taboo. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 40, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2011.600674
[3]
Blumstein, P., & Schwartz, P. (1983). American Couples: Money, Work, Sex. New York, NY: Pocket Books.
[4]
Britt, S. L., Huston, S., & Durband, D. B. (2010). The Determinants of Money Arguments between Spouses. Journal of Financial Therapy, 1, 42-60. https://doi.org/10.4148/jft.v1i1.253
[5]
Canary, D. J., & Cupach, W. R. (1988). Relational and Episodic Characteristics Associated with Conflict Tactics. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 5, 305-325. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407588053003
[6]
Canary, D. J., Cupach, W. R., & Serpe, R. T. (2001). A Competence-Based Approach to Examining Interpersonal Conflict: Test of a Longitudinal Model. Communication Research, 28, 79-104. https://doi.org/10.1177/009365001028001003
[7]
Canary, D. J., & Spitzberg, B. H. (1989). A Model of the Perceived Competence of Conflict Strategies. Human Communication Research, 15, 630-649. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1989.tb00202.x
[8]
Christensen, A., & Heavey, C. L. (1990). Gender and Social Structure in the Demand/Withdraw Pattern of Marital Conflict. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 73-81. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.59.1.73
[9]
Christensen, A., & Shenk, J. L. (1991). Communication, Conflict, and Psychological Distance in Nondistressed, Clinic, and Divorcing Couples. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 458-462. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.59.3.458
[10]
Cupach, W. R. (2015). Communication Competence in the Management of Conflict. In A. F. Hannawa, & B. H. Spitzberg (Eds.), Handbook of Communication Science (Vol. 22, pp. 341-366). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110317459-015
[11]
Deutsch, M. (1973). The Resolution of Conflict: Constructive and Destructive Processes. London: Yale University Press.
[12]
Dew, J., Britt, S., & Huston, S. (2012). Examining the Relationship between Financial Issues and Divorce. Family Relations, 61, 615-628. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2012.00715.x
[13]
Dew, J., & Dakin, J. (2011). Financial Disagreements and Marital Conflict Tactics. Journal of Financial Therapy, 2, 23-42. https://doi.org/10.4148/jft.v2i1.1414
[14]
Fairchild, A. J., MacKinnon, D. P., Toborga, M. P., & Taylor, A. B. (2009). R-Squared Effect-Size Measures for Mediation Analysis. Behavior Research Methods, 41, 486-498. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.41.2.486
[15]
Futris, T. G., Campbell, K., Nielsen, R. B., & Burwell, S. R. (2010). The Communication Patterns Questionnaire-Short Form: A Review and Assessment. The Family Journal, 18, 275-287. https://doi.org/10.1177/1066480710370758
[16]
Gottman, J. M. (1979). Marital Interaction: Experimental Investigations. New York, NY: Academic Press.
[17]
Gottman, J. M. (1994). What Predicts Divorce? The Relationship between Marital Processes and Marital Outcomes. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
[18]
Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond Barron and Kenny: Statistical Mediation Analysis in the New Millennium. Communication Monographs, 76, 408-420. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637750903310360
[19]
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
[20]
Hecht, M., Sereno, K., & Spitzberg, B. H. (1984). Communication Satisfaction and Satisfaction with Self and Other: The Relevance of Relationship Level and Topic Level. Personality and Social Psychology, 10, 376-384. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167284103005
[21]
Hendrick, S. S. (1988). A Generic Measure of Relationship Satisfaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50, 93-98. https://doi.org/10.2307/352430
[22]
Newton, D. A., & Burgoon, J. K. (1990). Nonverbal Conflict Behaviors: Functions, Strategies, and Tactics. In D. D. Cahn (Ed.), Intimates in Conflict: A Communication Perspective (pp. 77-104). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
[23]
Oggins, J. (2003). Topics of Marital Disagreement among African-American and Euro-American Newlyweds. Psychological Reports, 92, 419-425. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.2003.92.2.419
[24]
Papp, L. M., Cummings, E. M., & Goeke-Morey, M. C. (2009). For Richer, for Poorer: Money as a Topic of Marital Conflict in the Home. Family Relations, 58, 91-103. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2008.00537.x
[25]
Papp, L. M., Kouros, C. D., & Cummings, E. M. (2009). Demand-Withdraw Patterns in Marital Conflict in the Home. Personal Relationships, 16, 285-300. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2009.01223.x
[26]
Prawitz, A. D., Garman, T., Sorhaindo, B., O’Neil, B., Kim, J., & Drentea, P. (2006). InCharge Financial Distress/Financial Well-Being Scale: Development, Administration, and Score Interpretation. Financial Counseling and Planning, 17, 34-50. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2239338
[27]
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Contemporary Approaches to Assessing Mediation in Communication Research. In A. F. Hayes, M. D. Slater, & L. Synder (Eds.), The Sage Sourcebook of Advanced Data Analysis Methods for Communication Research (pp. 13-54). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452272054.n2
[28]
Preacher, K. J., & Kelley, K. (2011). Effect Size Measures for Mediation Models: Quantitative Strategies for Communicating Indirect Effects. Psychological Methods, 16, 93-115. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022658
[29]
Putnam, L. L., & Wilson, C. E. (1982). Communication Strategies in Organizational Conflicts: Reliability and Validity of a Measurement Scale. In M. Burgoon (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 6 (pp. 629-652). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
[30]
Rick, S. I., Small, D. A., & Finkel, E. J. (2011). Fatal (Fiscal) Attraction: Spendthrifts and Tightwads in Marriage. Journal of Marketing Research, 48, 228-237. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.48.2.228
[31]
Roloff, M. E. (1976). Communication Strategies, Relationships, and Relational Change. In G. R. Miller (Ed.), Explorations in Interpersonal Communication (pp. 173-195). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
[32]
Roloff, M. E., & Ifert, D. E. (2000). Conflict Management through Avoidance: Withholding Complaints, Suppressing Arguments, and Declaring Topics Taboo. In S. Petronio (Ed.), Balancing the Secrets of Private Disclosures (pp. 151-179). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
[33]
Romo, L. K. (2011). Money Talks: Revealing and Concealing Financial Information in Families. Journal of Family Communication, 11, 264-281. https://doi.org/10.1080/15267431.2010.544634
[34]
Schrodt, P., Witt, P. L., & Shimkowski, J. R. (2014). A Meta-Analytical Review of the Demand/Withdraw Pattern of Interaction and Its Associations with Individual, Relational, and Communicative Outcomes. Communication Monographs, 8, 28-58. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2013.813632
[35]
Sillars, A. L. (1980). Attributions and Communication in Roommate Conflict. Communication Monographs, 47, 180-200. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637758009376031
[36]
Sillars, A. L., Coletti, S. F., Parry, D., & Rogers, M. A. (1982). Coding Verbal Conflict Tactics: Nonverbal and Perceptual Correlates of the “Avoidance-Distributive-Integrative” Distinction. Human Communication Research, 9, 83-95. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1982.tb00685.x
[37]
Smith, L., Heaven, P. C. L., & Ciarrochi, J. (2008). Trait Emotional Intelligence, Conflict Communication Patterns, and Relationship Satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 1314-1325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.11.024
[38]
Stanley, S. M., Markman, H. J., & Whitton, S. W. (2002). Communication, Conflict, and Commitment: Insights on the Foundations of Relationship Success from a National Survey. Family Process, 41, 659-675. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2002.00659.x
[39]
Ting-Toomey, S. (1983). Coding Conversation between Intimates: A Validation Study of the Intimate Negotiation Coding System (INCS). Communication Quarterly, 31, 68-77. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463378309369488
[40]
Wilmarth, M. J., Nielsen, R. B., & Futris, T. G. (2014). Financial Wellness and Relationship Satisfaction: Does Communication Mediate? Family and Consumer Science Research, 43, 131-144. https://doi.org/10.1111/fcsr.12092
