Use Of Maintenance Behaviors Research Articles

How to maintain a marriage: Maintenance behaviors, equity, and appreciation in understanding marital satisfaction+

This study investigated the role of self-reported and perceived partners’ use of maintenance behaviors (openness, sharing tasks, and positivity) on marital satisfaction through the indirect roles of relational equity and appreciation (felt and expressed). We used a sample of 602 married individuals living in Turkey to test two hypothesized models using Structural Equation Modeling. Our results from the first model indicated that the indirect associations between self-reported use of maintenance behaviors and marital satisfaction were explained by the individual mediator role of felt appreciation and serial indirect role of felt appreciation and relational equity. On the other hand, the results of the second model indicated that the indirect associations between partners’ use of maintenance behaviors and marital satisfaction were explained by the individual mediator roles of relational equity and expressed appreciation as well as the serial indirect role of relational equity and expressed appreciation. We discussed the implications for theory, research and practice, and recommendations for further studies.

Maintaining Relationships: The Role of Implicit Relationship Theories and Partner Fit

Implicit relationship beliefs provide the basis for how people understand, predict, and sustain their relationships, and such beliefs may help explain why some individuals are more motivated to engage in relationship maintenance than others. Extending past research on relationship maintenance, we investigated the role of growth and destiny relationship beliefs and partner fit in predicting the use of maintenance behaviors. Data collected from 187 romantically involved individuals revealed that a growth belief was positively associated with the use of positivity, assurances, and tasks but a destiny belief was only associated with the use of networks. The perceived degree to which one’s partner was seen as an ideal fit moderated the effects on the use of positivity, assurances, and tasks.

Relationship Maintenance Behavior and Adult Attachment: An Analysis of the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model

Associations between relationships maintenance behaviors (positivity, openness, assurances, and sharing tasks) and anxious and avoidant attachment were examined in 265 married couples. Using structural equation modeling to employ the actor-partner interdependence model, the use of positivity, assurances, and sharing tasks were found to be negatively associated with anxious and avoidant attachment for both husbands and wives. Being open and self-disclosing in marriage was not strongly associated with attachment. Results indicated that the use of maintenance behaviors in marriages could have the potential to foster increased security in partners. Research and clinical implications are discussed.

The Cyber Factor: An Analysis of Relational Maintenance Through the Use of Computer-Mediated Communication

This study extends prior research on interpersonal communication and computer-mediated communication (CMC) to examine relational maintenance behaviors via multiple modes of CMC. As relationships are cultivated via mediated channels, this study explores whether men and women utilize maintenance strategies in differential relationships. Participants (N = 157) responded to a 40-item survey using an adaptation of Stafford and Canary's (1991) relational maintenance typology. Results suggest that, although use of maintenance behaviors has remained consistent with the advent of new technology, specific modes are utilized for different strategies. In addition, openness and assurances are utilized more by spouses and significant/romantic others, and women use more strategies to maintain their relationships through CMC than men, regardless of the type of relationship maintained.

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.

Relational Maintenance and the Influence of Commitment in Online and Offline Relationships

The study of relational-maintenance behaviors has sometimes included the impact of medium as a peripheral variable, but rarely has the impact of medium been tested directly. Participants (N = 1336) delineated themselves into four separate groups depending on the initial and continued use of mediated communication. They reported their use of relational-maintenance behaviors, as well as feelings of commitment towards the relationship. The medium had an impact on the use of relational-maintenance behaviors, primarily between people who had only met their partners in a mediated environment and those who had met them face-to-face. However, commitment level appears to strongly moderate the relationship between group and use of maintenance behaviors.

Routine and strategic maintenance efforts: behavioral patterns, variations associated with relational length, and the prediction of relational characteristics

The goal of the present study was to examine the patterns of relationships between routine and strategic maintenance enactment. Data were collected from 189 individuals in a romantic relationship. Results indicated that positivity and sharing tasks were more often performed routinely than strategically. Second, moderate to strong, positive correlations were found among the strategic use of maintenance behaviors, and also moderate to strong, positive correlations among the routine use of maintenance behaviors. However, virtually no relationships emerged between the routine and strategic use of maintenance. Next, both strategic and routine maintenance efforts were important in predicting satisfaction and commitment, but routine maintenance was slightly more important in predicting both satisfaction and commitment. Finally, three significant, positive correlations were found between the length of the relationship and routine maintenance performance (network, conflict management, and sharing tasks), and one significant, negative correlation was found between the length of the relationship and the strategic use of openness.

The Impact of Relational Maintenance Behaviors on Marital Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Analysis

In this study we investigate the longitudinal relation between maintenance behaviors and marital satisfaction. Forty married couples completed measures of maintenance behaviors and marital satisfaction at Time 1. The couples again completed the measure of marital satisfaction 1 year later. Analyses revealed that the use of maintenance behaviors at Time 1 was related to perceptions of satisfaction at Time 2. Further, certain maintenance behaviors seem to be more influential than others in predicting later perceptions of marital satisfaction. The findings suggest that the maintenance behaviors of wives and husbands are systemically and dynamically connected, and that the maintenance of marriages is a highly complex process.

Predicting maintenance enactment from relational schemata, spousal behavior, and relational characteristics

Thus far, researchers have made significant strides in identifying maintenance behaviors and articulating the impact of maintenance behaviors on salient relational characteristics. This study seeks to identify those variables which best predict the enactment of particular maintenance strategies among married individuals. Data were collected from 520 married individuals. Fitzpatrick's (1988) relational schemata, perception of spouse's use of maintenance behaviors, and one's own satisfaction and commitment served as the independent variables. Stafford, Dainton, and Haas' (2000) typology of maintenance behaviors served as the dependent variables. Results indicate that the most potent predictor of an individual's enactment of a selected maintenance behavior is his or her perception of the spouse's use of that same behavior. The variance explained ranged from a low of .04 to a high of .49.

All marriages are not maintained equally: Marital type, marital quality, and the use of maintenance behaviors

AbstractAlthough a growing amount of research has shown that married couples enact behaviors that maintain or preserve the relationship, little attention has examined how maintenance strategies are used in different types of marriages. This study investigated differences in the use of maintenance behaviors and in perceptions of marital quality across various marital types and explored the relationship between maintenance behaviors, marital types and key indicators of marital quality. Data collected from 141 married couples indicated that couples differed in the use of maintenance behaviors among various marital types. Further, the relationship between maintenance behaviors and perceptions of the key indicators of marital quality varied depending upon couples’ideological frameworks. The findings allow for a better picture of the use of maintenance behaviors in different types of marriages.

How Couples Maintain Marriages: A Closer Look at Self and Spouse Influences upon the Use of Maintenance Behaviors in Marriages

Couples use maintenance behaviors ensure the continuation of valued relationships. In this study, we extended previous research on relational maintenance in marriage by examining the role of both self and cross-spouse associations in the use of maintenance behaviors. Structural equation modeling using data collected from 129 married couples indicated that for wives, both self-perception of marital quality and cross-spouse perceptions, especially husbands' satisfaction, were related wives' use of maintenance behaviors. However, husband.s' use of maintenance behaviors had only a few associations with self or partner perceptions of marital quality. Results of the study were discussed in terms of their implications for family practitioners working with married couples. Key Words: commitment, interdependence, love, maintenance behaviors, satisfaction. Family practitioners and educators are frequently asked what couples can do sustain and enrich marriages. Although the popular literature is ripe with to prescriptions, research aimed at gaining a better understanding of how couples maintain healthy, happy marriages is critical. Over the years a wealth of relationship behaviors and variables have been proposed as important in making for strong, stable marriages. For example, behaviors such as self disclosure, intimacy, togetherness, communication, sexual intimacy, and equality have all been touted as instrumental in creating greater relationship quality (Dindia, 1994; Lewis & Spanier, 1979; Noller & Fitzpatrick, 1990). Too often in past research, however, the marital relationship has been studied from the perspective of either the wife or the husband. For example, a wife might be asked her perceptions of the marriage, and based upon her responses, researchers would make general statements about the nature of the marital relationship. Relationships, as Kenny (1996) points out, are two-sided. One's perceptions and behaviors are not independent from one's spouse, rather they are interdependent. To create a more accurate picture of the marriage, it becomes important for researchers study the relationship from the interrelated perspectives of both wives and husbands. The advantage of collecting couple data is that both self and cross-spouse influences upon behavior can be examined. For example, researchers can not only determine the effects of a husband's perceptions on what he does maintain his marriage, but also the effect of his wives' perceptions upon his use of maintenance behaviors. This possibility generates a much more powerful and complete picture of how couples maintain their marriages. In this study we use data from married couples examine the role of self and cross-spouse influences on the use of maintenance behaviors. Such information can help researchers better understand the dynamics within marriages and help practitioners work with couples build stronger, more vital marriages. Relational Maintenance Behaviors During the past decade, several researchers have focused their attention on a special group of interactional behaviors called relationship maintenance behaviors, those behaviors that function preserve ongoing relationships. Stafford (1994) describes relational maintenance as behaviors designed ensure the continuation of valued relationships through the prevention of their decline, through their enhancement, or through their repair and re-establishment. The use of maintenance behaviors has been connected with perceptions of relational equity, control and liking (Canary & Stafford, 1992), relational development (Guerrero, Eloy, & Wabnik, 1993), affinity seeking (Bell, Daly, & Gonzalez, 1987), and the resolution of dialectical tensions (Baxter & Dindia, 1990). A number of typologies of specific relationship maintenance behaviors have been developed, but perhaps the most widely recognized is the typology developed by Canary and Stafford (1992). …

The influence of marital duration on the use of relationship maintenance behaviors

This paper presents a study of the use of relationship maintenance behaviors—behaviors that function to preserve ongoing relationships—in marriages of varying durations. Data collected from 143 married couples revealed that the use of maintenance behaviors generally followed a curvilinear pattern in which maintenance behaviors were used most frequently in the early years of marriage, dropped during the middle years, and rebounded in more long‐term marriages. Results also indicated that the length of the marital relationship did not moderate the strength of relationship between the use of maintenance behaviors and perceptions of marital quality. Thus, it appears that even though the use of maintenance behaviors varies over the course of marriage, their utilization remains important in fostering continued positive perceptions of the marriage.

Using Paired Data to Test Models of Relational Maintenance and Marital Quality

Recent research has developed a good understanding of how maintenance behaviors are related to husbands’ and wives’ individual perceptions of marriage. Unfortunately, one of the limitations is that data have been collected from an individual spouse and may be misleading when applied to the relationship as a whole. The purpose of the present study was to test a procedure by which data collected from spouses can be used to examine joint couple-level concepts. Specifically, the study employs structural equation modeling with 129 married couples to examine the relationship between husbands’ and wives’ use of maintenance behaviors and joint couple-level constructs of marital quality. The final models for couple satisfaction, couple commitment, and couple love had good fits, indicating that individual use of maintenance behaviors has an influence upon couples’ marital quality. Also, wives’ overall use of maintenance behaviors had a stronger relationship with marital quality than did husbands’ use of maintenance behaviors.

Routine Maintenance Behaviors: A Comparison of Relationship Type, Partner Similarity and Sex Differences

This study replicates and extends previous research by probing for routine behaviors that maintain relationships. In addition, maintenance behaviors of married vs dating partners are compared, and similarity of relational partners' reports of maintenance behaviors is assessed. Finally, the differences in the use of maintenance behaviors by men and women are examined. Results indicate that many of the behaviors identified in this study are similar to behaviors found in past research on relational maintenance strategies. However, sharing tasks, a behavior only infrequently mentioned in previous research, was the most frequently reported maintenance behavior, indicating that sharing tasks is characteristic of routine, rather than strategic, maintenance behavior. Results also indicate that there is little difference in maintenance behaviors according to relationship type; that relational partners' reports of maintenance behaviors are quite similar; but that there are significant differences in the behaviors listed by men and women.