The Ability to Negotiate or the Ability to Love?: Evaluating the Developmental Domains of Marital Competence

Keywords

marital competence, communication skills, couple conflict, marital communication, marital love, marital quality

Abstract

Drawing from developmental theories of interpersonal competence, this article presents a multidimensional model of marital competence and reports on a study that provides a preliminary evaluation of the model and its central tenets. Structural equation modeling analyses were run with a nationally representative sample of 750 couples to test the model. The results demonstrated that the model accounted for 65% to 67% of the variance in partners' relationship quality and provided initial support to the theoretical and empirical utility of distinguishing marital competence according to developmentally defined domains of intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies. Implications of these findings for research and intervention are discussed.

Original Publication Citation

Carroll, J. S., Badger, S.*, & Yang, C. (2006). The Ability to Negotiate or the Ability to Love?: Evaluating the Developmental Domains of Marital Competence. Journal of Family Issues, 27, 1001-1032.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2006-07-01

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/7143

Publisher

Journal of Family Issues

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Family Life

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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