Synergists and Qualities Salient to Low-Income Parents' Positive Assessment of Marital Health

Keywords

low income, marital assessment, marital quality, positive psychology, relationship flourishing, relationship theory

Abstract

Researchers sought low-income couples who considered their marriages to be “good or very good” to inform the process of how individuals and their partners establish and maintain a healthy marriage under significant financial limitations. Twenty married parents participated in semistructured interviews that sought their insights into backgrounds and antecedents that impacted their own and their partners' development and current positive marital assessment. Analysis using grounded theory methods generated a model that posits synergists enhancing the development of qualities that contributed to spouses' positive assessments. The four synergists were sensitizing experiences, a partner-as-rescuer mind-set, acute parental influences, and religious influences. The four requisite high-priority qualities associated with these synergists were love, commitment, appreciation, and child-centeredness.

Original Publication Citation

Thompson, S. G., Smith, D., Whiting, J. B., & Bradford, K. (2013). Synergists and Qualities Salient to Low-Income Parents’ Positive Assessment of Marital Health. Marriage and Family Review, 49, 148-176. doi: doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2012.733324

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2013-02-28

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/5037

Publisher

Marriage & Family Review

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Family Life

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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