Marital Enqing and Depression in Taiwanese Couples: The Mediating Role of Active and Passive Sacrifice

ABSTRACT

Using social exchange and identity theory, the authors examined the association between marital enqing and depression in 372 Taiwanese couples, and the mediating effects of active and passive sacrifice on that association. Marital enqing is a unique form of affection toward the partner in Taiwanese couples. Data was analyzed by using the actor-partner interdependence model to test for actor and partner effects among study variables. Results indicated that husbands, who reported more marital enqing, tended to have lower levels of depression. Partner effects revealed that couples’ marital enqing decreased their spouse’s depressive symptoms. Husbands’ sacrifice behaviors mediated the association between his marital enqing and depression. However, Taiwanese wives’ sacrifice behavior did not mediate the association between her marital enqing and depression. Chinese cultural principles indeed impacted how couples in Taiwan conceptualized marital affection differently from couples in western cultures, and it provided insights into its relationships with couples’ sacrifices and relational and individual wellbeing.

KEYWORDS:

• depression
• enqing
• identity theory
• marital affection
• sacrifice
• social exchange

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pei-Fen Li

Pei-Fen Li, Marriage and Family Therapy Program in The College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Nova Southeastern University.

Kandauda Wickrama

Kandauda Wickrama, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Department of Human Development and Family Science, The University of Georgia.

Sarah Marie Worch

Sarah Worch, Couple and Family Therapy Program, Ohio State University.

Bertranna Muruthi

Bertranna Muruthi, Marriage & Family Therapy Program, Virginia Tech University.