Relationship Satisfaction Across the Transition to Parenthood: The Impact of Conflict Behavior

Abstract

The transition to parenthood is often accompanied by declines in relationship satisfaction. Using longitudinal data from six waves of the German family panel pairfam ( N = 1,739), the authors tested whether these declines are driven by increases in and more intense forms of conflict (differential exposure hypothesis) and by a greater sensitivity to relationship conflicts after the transition to parenthood (differential vulnerability hypothesis). The analyses showed strong support for the differential exposure hypothesis among women and partial support among men. Across the transition to motherhood, women experience increases in conflict that account for decreases in relationship satisfaction. The findings showed no support for the differential vulnerability hypothesis, as neither men’s nor women’s relationship satisfaction becomes more sensitive to relationship conflicts across the transition to parenthood.