The Meta Marriage: Links Between Older Couples' Relationship Narratives and Marital Satisfaction

• Published date: 01 December 2017
• Date: 01 December 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12217
• Author: Allen Sabey,Alexandra McCoy,Amy Rauer

The Meta Marriage: Links Between Older Couples’

Relationship Narratives and Marital Satisfaction

ALEXANDRA MCCOY*

AMY RAUER**

ALLEN SABEY

†

Drawing upon a relatively understudied population and a unique observational task,

the current study sought to examine how older couples’ interactional behaviors during a

relationship narrative task were associated with marital satisfaction over time. Using

observational data from a sample of 64 older, higher-functioning married couples, we ana-

lyzed a series of Actor–Partner Independence Models (APIM) to explore how couples’ inter-

actional behaviors during a relationship narrative task were associated with spouses’

marital satisfaction both concurrently and one year later. Analyses revealed that spouses’

behaviors (e.g., expressions of positive affect, negative affect, communication skills, engage-

ment) were associated with their self-reported marital satisfaction both at the time of the

narrative and with changes in marital satisfaction. We found particularly robust evi dence

for the role of husbands’ negative affect during the narrative task in predicting changes in

both spouses’ marital satisfaction over time. Our results indicate that researchers and clin-

icians should carefully consider the influence of development on the associations between

spouses’ behaviors and marital satisfaction. Further, those seeking to improve marriages

in later life may need to consider the meaningful role that gender appears to play in shap-

ing the marital experiences of older couples.

Keywords: Relationship Narratives; Older Adulthood; Marital Satisfaction;

Observational Research

Fam Proc 56:900–914, 2017

The benefits of marriage appear to accrue over time, as couples who are married longer

experience greater wealth accumulation, fewer health risks, and even greater longev-

ity than those who are unmarried or married for shorter durations (Dupre, Beck, & Mead-

ows, 2009; Dupre & Meadows, 2007; Zissimopoulos, Karney, & Rauer, 2015). Although

there are clear benefits of being together longer, the nature of this time together varies

greatly across couples, with some maintaining happy marriages throughout (Bachand &

Caron, 2001) and others having less sanguine experiences (Hawkins & Booth, 2005). Even

long-term married couples with relatively similar marital experiences and histories may

reflect together upon this time in ways that are quite different. The question is, are such

differences meaningful?

*Chappell Therapy, San Diego, CA.

**Department of Child and Family Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN.

†

Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University, Auburn, AL.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Amy Rauer, Department of Child and

Family Studies, University of Tennessee, 115 Jessie Harris Building, 1215 W. Cumberland Ave., Knox-

ville, TN 37996. E-mail: alexandra.b.mccoy@gmail.com

The research reported was funded by a grant from the John E. Fetzer Institute to the second author. We

are grateful to the families of the Marriage and Retirement Study for their participation.

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

doi: 10.1111/famp.12217