Adjusting communal and exchange motivations to perceived spouse responsiveness and its association with relational and personal well-being in married couples

Abstract

This study examined how individuals adjust communal and exchange motivations for doing household tasks based on perceptions of the responsiveness of their spouses and its impact on relational and personal well-being in marital relationships. Toward this end, the study employed an eight-day diary survey. Individual slopes were calculated to quantify the degree of motivation adjustment in response to daily fluctuations in perceived spouse responsiveness. A follow-up survey was then conducted to evaluate relationship satisfaction and subjective well-being. The study analyzed data from 156 married couples using the actor-partner interdependence model via multilevel structural equation modeling. As hypothesized, the study observed a negative correlation between an individual’s slope of perceived spouse responsiveness to exchange motivation and relationship satisfaction. In contrast, however, the study found no significant association between an individual’s slope of perceived spouse responsiveness to communal motivation and relational or personal well-being. These findings imply that the adaptive regulation of exchange motivation in response to perceived spouse responsiveness contributes to positive marital relationships.