An Actor-Partner Model of Relationship Effort and Marital Quality

The effort individuals put into their romantic relationships is typically aimed at improving relationship quality for one's self and their partner (Halford, Sanders, & Behrens, 1994). As such, psychologists, sociologists, family scientists, and social workers have forwarded various measures and conceptualizations of the common notion that "good relationships require work. " These include communication, commitment, relationship maintenance, and similar efforts (Canary, Stafford, & Semic, 2002). One such conceptualization applies the psychological concept of self-regulation to romantic relationships. Relationship self-regulation, or RSR, captures an internal and transactional process consisting of attitudes and behaviors toward goals focused on improving a romantic relationship (Karoly, 1993; Wilson, Charker, Lizzio, Halford, & Kimlin, 2005). As such, relationship effort is made up of the attitudes and behaviors that indicate a willingness and the persistence to engage a partner in ways aimed at improving their relationship (Halford et al., 1994; Wilson et al., 2005). The influence of effort on relationship satisfaction and dissolution proneness is well established. One recent study, for example, found that effort was strongly and positively associated with both dimensions of relationship quality (Shafer, Jensen, & Larson, 2014), whereas another showed that effort was more strongly correlated with high marital satisfaction than good communication (Halford et al., 2007). One shortcoming of these and other studies of relationship effort, however, is that they tend to address how individuals' own perceived effort influences their own assessment of relationship quality. Yet the goal of RSR and effort, more specifically, is dyadic because it is employed to positively influence relational satisfaction in the individual and the partner. As a result, we advance research on relationship effort by modeling it dyadicly (as called for by Halford and colleagues, 1994). To do this we use data from the RELATionship Evaluation survey (RELATE), a large and diverse secondary sample of individuals who used RELATE as an online relationship evaluation tool. Our unique subsample of RELATE consists of first-married couples, providing us with data on the dyadic relationship between effort and marital quality. More specifically, we use four reports of relationship effort: (a) husbands' reports of personal effort levels, (b) wives' reports of personal effort levels, (c) husbands' reports of spousal effort, and (d) wives' reports of spousal efforts. These measures are then linked to reports of relationship satisfaction and divorce proneness in both partners using an actor-partner interdependence model (APIM). In the next sections we discuss in more depth the concept of relationship effort, its association with marital quality, and its dyadic nature.Relationship Effort and Marital QualityRelationship effort is characterized by (a) individual behaviors specifically designed to improve one's relationship, (b) an attitude of persistence, (c) consideration of a spouse's reaction to such efforts, and (d) how such efforts have influenced one's perceived quality (Halford et al., 1994; Hazelwood, 2012). In other words, effort can be thought of as one's attitude toward working at their relationship despite potential hardships or old patterns of behavior, ability to change behaviors, being responsive to feedback, and ensuring that change efforts do not harm personal perceptions of quality. These goals and attributes may sound familiar since they are closely aligned with those of emotionally focused therapy (EFT), with its emphasis on partner availability, engagement, and responsiveness as a means to engender trust, security, and interdependence between partners ( Huston, Caughlin, Houts, Smith, & George, 2001; Johnson, 2008; Johnson & Greenman, 2006). As we noted earlier, effort is one aspect of RSR, which also includes relationship strategies. …