Relational Maintenance, Satisfaction, and Commitment in Marriages: An Actor-Partner Analysis

We used data collected from 117 married couples to investigate the interdependent nature of spouses' perceptions of marital satisfaction and commitment and the use of maintenance behaviors. Results using dyadic analysis techniques revealed significant actor and partner effects of spouses' perceptions of satisfaction and commitment with the use of maintenance behaviors. Further, the strength of the actor and partner effects were similar between wives and husbands, indicating that the perceptions of both partners are important in the use of maintenance behaviors in marriage. The results can help family communication scholars fashion a more complete picture of the process of relationship maintenance in the lives of married couples.