Couple-Level Patterns of Disclosure Process Beliefs and Their Association with Marital Satisfaction

Abstract

Grounded in symbolic interaction theory, we used latent class analysis (LCA) to investigate the preexisting patterns of belief surrounding the disclosure process in married relationships. With a sample of 131 heterosexual married dyads from the U.S., we found four classes: two classes represented similarity of spouses’ beliefs (Both High Beliefs and Neither High Beliefs), and two classes represented dissimilarity of spouses’ beliefs (where only the wife endorsed high beliefs, Wife High Beliefs, and where only the husband did, Husband High Beliefs). Husbands’ satisfaction was positively associated with membership in the Both High Beliefs class. An interaction between spouses’ satisfaction was found: the impact of wives’ satisfaction on class membership is dependent on husbands’ satisfaction. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Keywords:

• disclosure
• dyadic data
• latent class analysis (LCA)
• marital satisfaction
• marriage
• symbolic interaction (SI)

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the course instructors for their work, as well as those who participated in the relationship education classes. Portions of the data and analyses in this paper were presented at the National Council on Family Relations 2016 annual conference.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Office of Family Assistance, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under grant [90FM0001]; Utah Department of Workforce Services under grant [142617].