Marital Conflict Resolution and Marital Affection in Chinese Marriage: Integrating Variable-Centered and Person-Centered Approaches

Abstract

To examine how couple interactions shape changes in marital affection during the early years of marriage, we used two-wave, dyadic data from 268 Chinese couples and integrated variable-centered (i.e., the actor-partner interdependence model; APIM) and person-centered analytic approaches (i.e., the latent profile analysis; LPA). Employing variable-centered analyses, we found that husbands’ stalemate and verbal aggression as well as wives’ collaboration and avoidance were particularly predictive of changes in marital affection. Using person-centered analyses, we found that (1) three groups of couples can be identified based on husbands’ and wives’ marital conflict resolution strategies (i.e., Collaborative Couples, Aggressive Wife-Defensive Husband Couples, and Defensive Couples); and (2) the changes of marital affection varied systematically across these groups. Variable-centered and person-centered approaches each generate unique insights above and beyond each other when considering marital phenomena. Integrating the two approaches can depict a more complete and nuanced picture of the association between marital conflict resolution and marital affection.