Marital Expectations in Strong African American Marriages

• Date: 01 December 2017
• Author: Linda Skogrand,Cassandra Chaney,J. Mitchell Vaterlaus,Kassandra Gahagan
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12263
• Published date: 01 December 2017

Marital Expectations in Strong African American

Marriages

J. MITCHELL VATERLAUS*

LINDA SKOGRAND

†

CASSANDRA CHANEY

‡

KASSANDRA GAHAGAN*

The current exploratory study utilized a family strengths framework to identify marital

expectations in 39 strong African American heterosexual marriages. Couples reflecte d on

their marital expectations over their 10 or more years of marriage. Three themes emerged

through qualitative analysis and the participants’ own words were used in the presentation

of the themes. African Americans indicated that there was growth in marital expect ations

over time, with marital expectations often beginning with unrealistic expectations that

grew into more realistic expectations as their marriages progressed. Participants also indi-

cated that core expectations in strong African American marriages included open commu-

nication, congruent values, and positive treatment of spouse. Finally, participants

explained there is an “I” in marriage as they discussed the importance of autonomy within

their marital relationships. Results are discussed in association with existing research and

theory.

Keywords: African American; Autonomy; Black; Communication; Expectations; Marriage

Fam Proc 56:883–899, 2017

INTRODUCTION

Forty years ago divorce rates began to increase, resulting in high demand for research-

ers to focus on treating marital distress (Karney, 2007). Scholars have since focused

on concrete aspects of marriages that could be addressed directly in therapy sessions,

focusing primarily on communication and conflict resolution (Barsky, 2014; Gottman,

1979; Greeff, 2000; Schaap, Buunk, & Kerkstra, 1988; Tillett, 1999). DeFrain and Asay

(2007) advocated for a redirection in the research away from a focus on marital conflict

and distress to a focus on marital strengths. The current study adhered to DeFrain and

Asay’s (2007) recommendation by examining African American marriage from a

strengths-based perspective. A family strengths framework focuses on identifying positive

marital qualities, rather than marital problems, within a specific cultural group (DeFrain

& Asay, 2007). Using a family strengths framework within a specific ethnic group allows

*Department of Health and Human Development, College of Education, Health and Human Development,

Montana State University, Bozeman, MT.

†

Department of Family, Consumer and Human Development, College of Education and Human Services, Utah

State University, Logan, UT.

‡

College of Human Sciences and Education, School of Social Work, Child and Family Studies, Louisiana State

University, Baton Rouge, LA.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to J. Mitchell Vaterlaus, Department of

Health and Human Development, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173540, Bozeman, MT 59717-3540.

E-mail: j.vaterlaus@montana.edu.

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Family Process, Vol. 56, No. 4, 2017 ©2016 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12263

for the identification of strengths unique to that ethnic group (DeFrain & As ay, 2007).

This process opens the possibility of using these identified strengths to encourage others

within the ethnic group to develop strong marriages.

Realistic relationship expectations are a strength or a protective factor for marriages

and remarriages (Adler-Baeder, 2007; Larsen & Olson, 1989). Larsen and Olson (1989)

reported that realistic relationship expectations were a strong predictor of marit al success

among 179 married couples in their first 3 years of marriage. They concluded that rela-

tionship expectations should be a focus in premarital education and counseling. To date,

research on marital expectations has largely focused on Caucasians (Campbell, Wright, &

Flores, 2012; Laner & Russell, 1995), with little focus on marital expectations within

minority populations. The purpose of the present study was to identify marital expecta-

tions in strong African American marriages (i.e., two African American individuals shar-

ing a happy and enduring marital relationship) and to retrospectively explore how these

expectations were perceived to change over the course of marriage.

AFRICAN AMERICAN MARRIAGE

Historically, there has been little research focus on African American marriages (Bryant

et al., 2010; Marks et al., 2008; McAdoo, 2007). African Americanmarriage serves as a pro-

tective factor for individual psychological well-being, evidenced by married African Ameri-

cans experiencing higher levels of well-being than unmarried African Americans (Crohan,

Antonucci, & Adelmann, 1989; Williams, Takeuchi, & Adair, 1992). However, African

Americans tend to marry at a later age and spend less time married than White Americans

(Dixon, 2008). Additionally, African American marriages are less likely to endure when

compared to other ethnic minority groups including Hispanic and Asian marriages (Krei-

der & Ellis, 2011). African Americans report lower marital quality and experience more

contemplation of divorce than their White counterparts, even after controlling for level of

education and economic resources (Bulanda & Brown, 2007). Not only do African American

marriages have the highest divorce rate, African Americans also have the highest rate of

never married persons, the highest rate of children born outside of marriage, and the low-

est overall marriage rate compared to other ethnic groups (Chambers& Kravitz, 2011).

African American individuals tend to agree that remaining unmarried is better than

being unhappily married (Curran, Utley, & Muraco, 2010). The current challenges in Afri-

can American marriages (e.g., lower marital quality, higher relationship dissolution;

Bulanda & Brown, 2007; Kreider & Ellis, 2011) seem to be negatively affecting individu-

als’ expectations to marry as African Americans report being less likely than White or His-

panic individuals to expect to be married in the future (Crissey, 2005). Furthermore, Barr

and Simons (2012) found African American young adults’ expectations to marry were neg-

atively associated with a partner’s recent unemployment and positively associated with a

partner’s enrollment in higher education. Unfortunately, African American males have a

higher rate of unemployment and a lower level of education in comparison to White Ameri-

cans and African American females (Barr & Simons, 2012). Much more research is needed

to identify supportive factors to sustain African American marriage.

As evidenced in the previously summarized research, scholars have typically viewed

African American marriages from a deficit perspective—highlighting the problems within

African American marriages (Connor & White, 2006). Over three decades ago, Stinnett,

Sanders, and DeFrain (1981) pioneered efforts to publish research grounded in a family

strengths perspective. Central to a family strengths perspective, DeFrain and Asay (2007)

posit that all families have strengths and all families experience challenges. “If one looks

for problems in a family, one will only see problems. If one also looks for strengths, one will

find strengths” (DeFrain & Asay, 2007, p. 5). Marital strengths include processes within

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