Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-gq7q9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T12:04:54.749Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Communal Orientation Predicting Flourishing of Married Individuals: Mediation of Emotion Expressivity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2018

Samar Fahd  and
Rubina Hanif
Samar Fahd*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Psychology, Centre of Excellence, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Rubina Hanif
Affiliation:
National Institute of Psychology, Centre of Excellence, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
*
Address for correspondence: Samar Fahd, National Institute of Psychology, Centre of Excellence, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. Email: samarphd14@nip.edu.pk
Get access

Abstract

Expression of emotions may arbitrate the connections between communal orientation and psychological flourishing of married individuals that may lead to optimal functioning within a marital relationship. By using cross-sectional research design, the present study measures multiple dimensions of psychological flourishing (relationship and individual) in conjunction with communal orientation and emotion expressivity. Among married individuals from Pakistan aged 20–80 years, the authors examined the mediating effect of each spouse's emotional expression (positive, negative, and impulse strength) on the association between communal orientation and psychological flourishing. Findings highlight that communal orientation significantly predicts psychological flourishing. Positive Communal Orientation positively predicts relationship dimension as well as the Individual dimension of psychological flourishing. On the other hand, Negative Communal Orientation negatively predicts the Relationship dimension of psychological flourishing. However, Negative Communal Orientation positively predicts the Individual dimension of psychological flourishing. Furthermore, positive expressivity, negative expressivity and impulse strength significantly mediate the relationship between communal orientation and psychological flourishing. Moreover, gender differences were also found in the exercise of communal orientation and level of flourishing among husbands and wives. The evidence from the present study can be utilised to design relationship measure that can capture all the ingredients of optimal functioning of marital relationship.

Keywords

flourishingmarriageemotion expressivitycommunal orientation
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Relationships Research , Volume 9 , 2018 , e17
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Berne, E., Steiner, C.M. & Dusay, J.M. Transactional analysis. In Ratibor-Ray, M. Jurjevich (Ed.), Direct psychotherapy: 28 American originals (pp. 370–393). Coral Gables, FL: University of Miami Press.Google Scholar
Bonnie, M.L., Impett, E.A.I., Kogan, A., Webster, G.D., & Cheng, C. (2013). The personal and interpersonal rewards of communal orientation. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30, 694–710.Google Scholar
Bryan, A.D., Hammer, J.C., & Fisher, J.D. (2000). Whose hands reach out to the homeless? Patterns of helping among high and low communally oriented individuals. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30, 887–905.Google Scholar
Carstensen, L.L., Gottman, J.M., & Levenson, R.W. (1995). Emotional behavior in long–term marriage. Psychology and Aging, 10, 140–149.Google Scholar
Chen, S., Lee-Chai, A.Y., & Bargh, J.A. (2001). Relationship orientation as a moderator of the effects of social power. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 173–87.Google Scholar
Clark, M.S., & Finkel, E.J. (2005). Willingness to express emotion: The impact of relationship type, communal orientation, and their interaction. Personal Relationships, 12, 169–180. doi:10.1111/j.1350-4126.2005.00109.xGoogle Scholar
Clark, M.S., Fitness, J., & Brisette, I. (2004). Understanding people's perceptions of relationship is crucial to understanding their emotional lives. In Brewer, M.B. & Hewstone, M. (Eds.), Emotion and motivation (pp. 21–46). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Clark, M.S., Lemay, E.P. Jr., Graham, S.M., Pataki, S.P., & Finkel, E.J. (2010). Ways of giving benefits in marriage: Norm use, relationship satisfaction, and attachment-related variability. Psychological Science, 21, 944–951. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610373882Google Scholar
Clark, M.S., Quellette, R., Powell, M.C., & Milberg, S. (1987). Recipient's mood, relationship type, and helping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 93–103.Google Scholar
Cramer, D. (2000). Relationship satisfaction and conflict style in romantic relationships. The Journal of Psychology, 134, 337–341.Google Scholar
Crocker, J. (2008). From egosystem to ecosystem: Implications for relationships, learning, and well-being. In Wayment, H.A., Bauer, J.J., Wayment, H.A., & Bauer, J.J. (Eds.), Transcending self-interest: Psychological explorations of the quiet ego (pp. 63–72). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Fahd, S., & Hanif, R. (2018). Psychological flourishing among married individuals: Role of communal orientation, emotion expressivity and emotion regulation. Doctoral dissertation in preparation, National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.Google Scholar
Fardis, M. (2005). Expression and regulation of emotions in romantic relationships. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Montana, Missoula.Google Scholar
Feeney, J.A. (2002). Attachment, marital interaction, and relationship satisfaction: A diary study. Personal Relationships, 9, 39–55.Google Scholar
Fowers, B.J., & Owenz, M.B. (2010). A eudaimonic theory of marital quality. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 2, 334–352.Google Scholar
Geist, R.L., & Gilbert, D.G. (1996). Correlates of expressed and felt emotion during marital conflict: Satisfaction, personality, process, and outcome. Personality and Individual Differences, 21, 49–60.Google Scholar
Gottman, J.M., & Levenson, R.W. (1992). Marital processes predictive of later dissolution: Behavior, physiology, and health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 221–233.Google Scholar
Greef, A.P. (2000). Characteristics of families that function well. Journal of Family lssues, 21, 948–962. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/019251300021008001.Google Scholar
Gross, J.J., & John, O.P. (1995). Facets of emotional expressivity: Three self-report factors and their correlates. Personal and Individual Differences, 19, 555– 568.Google Scholar
Gur–Aryeh, S.M. (2010). Emotional expression, gender, and match in personality as predictors of marital satisfaction (Doctoral dissertation, New York, Forham University). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis database.Google Scholar
Halberstadt, A.G., Cassidy, J., Stifter, C.A., Parke, R.D., & Fox, N.A. (1995). Self–expressiveness within the family context: Psychometric support for a new measure. Psychological Assessment, 7, 93–103.Google Scholar
Honeycutt, J.M., & Cantrill, J.G. (2001). Cognition, communication, and romantic relationships. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Ingoldsby, B.B. (1980). Emotional expressiveness and marital adjustment: A cross-cultural analysis. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 11, 501–515.Google Scholar
Ingoldsby, B.B., Horlacher, G.T., Schvaneveldt, P.L., & Matthews, M. (2005). Emotional expressiveness and marital adjustment in Ecuador. Marriage & Family Review, 38, 25–44.Google Scholar
Johnson, M.D., Cohan, C.L., Davila, J., Lawrence, E., Rogge, R.D., Karney, B.R., & Bradbury, T.N. (2005). Problem-solving skills and affective expressions as predictors of change in marital satisfaction. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 15–27.Google Scholar
Keltner, D., & Kring, A.M. (1998). Emotion, social function, and psychopathology. Review of General Psychology, 2, 320–342.Google Scholar
Keyes, C.L.M. (2002). The Mental Health Continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Research, 43, 207–222.Google Scholar
Keyes, C.L.M., & Simoes, E.J. (2012). To flourish or not: Positive mental health and all-cause mortality. American Journal of Public Health, 102, 2164–2172.Google Scholar
Kogan, A., Impett, E.A., Oveis, C., Hui, B., Gordon, A.M., & Keltner, D. (2010). When giving feels good: The intrinsic benefits of sacrifice in romantic relationships for the communally motivated. Psychological Science, 21, 1918–1924.Google Scholar
Kurdek, L.A. (1999). The nature and predictors of the trajectory of change in marital quality for husbands and wives over the first 10 years of marriage. Developmental Psychology, 35, 1283–1269.Google Scholar
Lavee, Y., & Ben-Ari, A. (2004). Emotional expressiveness and neuroticism: Do they predict marital quality? Journal of Family Psychology, 18, 620–627.Google Scholar
Lutz, C. (1987). Goals, events and understanding in Ifaluk emotions theory. In Guinne, N. & Hoalland, D. (Eds.), Cultural models in language and thought (pp. 290–312). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Miller, P.J.E., Caughlin, J.P., & Huston, T.L. (2003). Trait expressiveness and marital satisfaction: The role of idealization processes. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 978–995.Google Scholar
Mills, J., & Clark, M.S. (2001). Viewing close roman-tic relationships as communal relationships: Implications for maintenance and enhancement. In Harvey, J. & Wenzel, A. (Eds.), Close romantic relationships: Maintenance and enhancement (pp. 13–25). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Piferi, R.L., & Lawler, K.A. (2006). Social support and ambulatory blood pressure: An examination of both receiving and giving. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 62, 328–336.Google Scholar
Planalp, S. (2003). The unacknowledged role of emotion in theories of close relationships: How do theories feel? Communication Theory, 13, 78–99.Google Scholar
Rauer, A.J., & Volling, B.L. (2005). The role of husbands’ and wives’ emotional expressivity in the marital relationship. Sex Roles, 52, 577–587.Google Scholar
Sbarra, D.A., & Hazan, C. (2008). Coregulation, dysregulation, self-regulation: an integrative analysis and empirical agenda for understanding adult attachment, separation, loss, and recovery. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12, 141–67. doi:10.1177/1088868308315702Google Scholar
Shapiro, A.F., Gottman, J.M., & Carrere, S. (2000). The baby and the marriage: Identifying factors that buffer against decline in marital satisfaction after the first baby arrives. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 59–70.Google Scholar
Shapiro, A.F., Gottman, J.M., & Carrere, S. (2000). The baby and the marriage: Identifying factors that buffer against decline in marital satisfaction after the first baby arrives. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 59–70.Google Scholar
Tashiro, T. (2005). Positive emotion and attributions in close relationships. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota.Google Scholar
Thompson, L., & DeHarpport, T. (1998). Relationships, goal incompatibility, and communal orientation in negotiations. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 20, 33–44.Google Scholar
Yediri, S., & Hamarta, E. (2015). Emotional expression and spousal support as predictors of marital satisfaction: The case of Turkey. Educational Science: Theory and Practice, 15, 1549–1558. doi:10.12738/estp.2015.6.2822Google Scholar