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From Support to Control: A Configurational Perspective on Conjugal Quality
Author(s) -
Widmer Eric D.,
Giudici Francesco,
Le Goff JeanMarie,
Pollien Alexandre
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00611.x
Subject(s) - interdependence , perspective (graphical) , quality (philosophy) , social psychology , psychology , cohesion (chemistry) , sociology , epistemology , computer science , social science , philosophy , chemistry , organic chemistry , artificial intelligence
The topic of conjugal quality provides an empirical illustration of the relevance of the configurational perspective on families. On the basis of a longitudinal sample of 1,534 couples living in Switzerland drawn from the study “Social Stratification, Cohesion and Conflict in Contemporary Families,” we show that various types of interdependencies with relatives and friends promote distinct conflict management strategies for couples as well as unequal levels of conjugal quality. We find that configurations characterized by supportive and noninterfering relationships with relatives and friends for both partners are associated with higher conjugal quality, whereas configurations characterized by interference are associated with lower conjugal quality.