7/31/15 BACKGROUND
 Research suggests that couples’ financial problems and daily
financial activities affect marital happiness (Olson, Olson-Sigg, & Larson,
2008).
FINANCIAL WELLNESS AND
RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION:
DOES COMMUNICATION MEDIATE?
MELISSA J. WILMARTH-UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
ROBERT B. NIELSEN-UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
TED G. FUTRIS-UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
 Finances central to the lives of married couples and marital happiness
affected by money problems (Dew, 2009).
Family and Consumer Sciences
Research Journal
Volume: 46, Issue: 2
Pages 131-144
Do couples’ communication patterns mediate
the relationship between financial wellness and
relationship satisfaction?
RESEARCH
QUESTION
FINANCES & MARRIAGE
 Finances central to the lives of married couples and marital happiness
affected by money problems (Dew, 2009)
 Finances linked to power, control, and decision-making (Stanley et al., 2002)
 The Great Recession provided researchers an opportunity to further
investigate how contextual financial stressors affect marriages.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
FINANCES & COMMUNICATION
 Couples who communicate about financial decisions and have mutual
compromise tend to have more tranquil relationships.
 Stressors have been found to influence how couples interact with one another
and, in turn, how couples interact affects marital outcomes (Gottman & Notarius,
2000; Stanley et al., 2002).
 Among couples meeting with a:
 Financial counselor: 1/3 reported an interpersonal relationship challenge
 Marriage counselor: 1/3 reported having financial issues (Aniol & Snyder, 1997)
 Relationships characterized by negative interactions tend to be
disproportionately affected by financial stress relative to relationships
characterized by more supportive communication patterns (James, 2009).
1 7/31/15 SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY
 The operating assumption is that people obtain what they need and want by
making exchanges with others while trying to minimize costs (Turner, 1991).
Problem
Alternatives
Chosen Alternatives
Costs
Outcomes
Rewards
Feedback
Social exchange theory process
Financial
Wellness
Comm.
Positive/Negative
Alternatives Comm. Alternatives
Costs
Relationship
Satisfaction
Rewards
Data
Measurement
Variable Selection
Analysis
Feedback
Social exchange theory process as applied to the research question
HEALTHY FAMILIES, HEALTHY FINANCES
METHODOLOGY
DESCRIPTION OF SAMPLES
2007 Sample
2011 Sample
 59.2% Female
 Mean age: 50.5 years
 22.7 mean years married
 2.4 children together on average
 Education:
 62.1% Female
 Mean age: 51.6 years
 23.3 mean years married
 1.9 children together on average
 Education:
 Both samples were independent cross-sectional samples, identified
using the same sampling technique and population of interest
 Race:
 Race:
 2007: N=515; 2011: N=489
 Income:
 Income:
  ATI assessed relationship and financial behaviors and
C
perceptions.
 Collected by a large southern university’s survey research center in the
summers of 2007 and 2011.
 Immediately prior to and two years after the Great Recession.
Personal Financial Wellness™ Scale (Prawitz et al., 2006a)
Positive Interaction Subscale
2011: M=7.42; Cronbach’s α: 0.64
2011: M=3.23; Cronbach’s α: 0.53
Criticize/Defend Subscale
2007: M=2.88; Cronbach’s α: 0.82
  73.8% White
  22.5% African American
  16.8% < $39,999
  32.3% between $40,000 and $79,999
  50.9% > $80,000
ANALYSIS
 Full information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation using LISREL
8.80 was employed for dealing with missing values.
 2007: 1.7% and 2011: 2.4% of values were missing.
 Two structural equation models were hypothesized and estimated:
Demand/Withdraw Subscale
2007: M=2.95; Cronbach’s α: 0.59
  16.4% HS degree or GED
  28.7% Some college, < 4 year degree
  50.1% Bachelor’s degree or higher
2011: M=7.18; Cronbach’s α: 0.91
Communication Patterns Questionnaire, Short Form (Christensen & Heavey, 1990)
2007: M=7.71; Cronbach’s α: 0.62
  80.6% White
  16.7% African American
  18.6% < $39,999
  40.6% between $40,000 and $79,999
  40.8% > $80,000
VARIABLE SELECTION & MEASUREMENT
2007: M=7.59; Cronbach’s α: 0.89
  28.3% HS degree or GED
  25.5% Some college, < 4 year degree
  40.4% Bachelor’s degree or higher
 Positive Communication Patterns
 Negative Communication Patterns
2011: M=2.92; Cronbach’s α: 0.78
Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale: Relationship Satisfaction Subscale (Busby et al., 1995)
2007: M=15.81; Cronbach’s α: 0.69 2011: M=15.90; Cronbach’s α: 0.67
2 7/31/15 NEGATIVE COMMUNICATION PATTERNS MODEL
POSITIVE COMMUNICATION PATTERNS MODEL
e
e
e
Mutual Discussion
Mutual Expression
Mutual Negotiation
F Discuss/M Avoids
Mutual Avoidance
e
e
Satisfaction with Financial
Situation
e
Feelings About Current Financial
Condition
e
e
Discuss Divorce
Financial
Wellness
Can’t Afford to Go Out
e
Living Paycheck to Paycheck
e
Worry About Living Expenses
e
Confidence Regarding Financial
Emergency
e
Stress About Finances in General
e
e
F Criticize/M Defend
M Discuss/F Avoids
Mutual Blame
DemandWithdraw
Positive
Communication
Behaviors
Level of Financial Stress
e
e
e
Relationship
Satisfaction
Quarrel
Regret Marriage
e
CriticizeDefend
Negative
Communication
Behaviors
Level of Financial Stress
e
Satisfaction with Financial
Situation
e
Feelings About Current Financial
Condition
e
M Criticize/F Defend
Discuss Divorce
e
e
e
Can’t Afford to Go Out
e
Living Paycheck to Paycheck
e
Worry About Living Expenses
Financial
Wellness
Quarrel
Relationship
Satisfaction
Regret Marriage
Get on Each Other’s Nerves
e
Get on Each Other’s Nerves
14
13
e
Confidence Regarding Financial
Emergency
e
Stress About Finances in General
RESULTS
RESULTS
 2007 Positive Communication Patterns
 2007 Negative Communication Patterns
 All estimates were significant (p ≤ .01).
 Fit indices:
 Fit indices:
  χ2=247.06 (df 87, p=0.0)
  RMSEA=0.060;
  90% Confidence Interval for RMSEA (.051, .069);P-Value for Test of Close Fit=.033
 2011 Positive Communication Patterns
 All estimates were significant (p ≤ .01).
 Fit indices:
  χ2=270.76.81 (df 87, p=0.0)
  RMSEA=0.066
  90% Confidence Interval for RMSEA (.057, .075);P-Value for Test of Close Fit=.002
e
e
e
e
 All but one path estimates was significant (p ≤ .01).
  The path from financial wellness to relationship satisfaction (0.11) was not significant.
  χ2=345.81 (df 130, p=0.0)
  RMSEA=0.057
  90% Confidence Interval for RMSEA (.050, .064);P-Value for Test of Close Fit=.061
 2011 Negative Communication Patterns
 All but one path estimates was significant (p ≤ .01).
  The path from financial wellness to relationship satisfaction (0.13) was significant at p ≤ .05.
 Fit indices:
  χ2=320.09 (df 130, p=0.0)
  RMSEA=0.055
  90% Confidence Interval for RMSEA (.047, .062);P-Value for Test of Close Fit=.15
FINANCIAL WELLNESS &
RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION
 It is important to examine how economic challenges affect financial wellness
and relationship satisfaction in marriages.
 The results for relationship satisfaction and communication patterns are
consistent with the existing literature:
  Demonstrating that relationship satisfaction is effected differently by negative and positive
communication (e.g. Gottman, 1994; Johnson, 1996; Stanley et al., 2002).
DISCUSSION
 Identified support for the hypothesis financial wellness and relationship
satisfaction is potentially mediated by the specific behaviors couples use when
communicating.
  Consistent with existing research showing that financial strain affects marital quality both
directly and indirectly through interaction (e.g., Cutrona et al., 2003).
3 7/31/15 IMPLICATIONS
CONCLUSION
 For practitioners:
  Help couples develop skills to effectively manage conflict in general, and conflict where
finances (Archuleta et al., 2011; Bradbury et al., 2000).
  Couples could benefit from communication tips that facilitate both positive communication
behaviors that encourage cooperation and compromise and exchange strategies to minimize
criticism, defensiveness, and withdrawal (Gottman, 1999).
 Future Research:
  Investigate all types of committed relationships.
  Longitudinal designs involving couples.
 Our results provide insight into how the recession may have
affected couples’ financial wellness and relationship satisfaction, as
lower financial wellness was associated with lower relationship
satisfaction.
 In the face of a slow recovery in that our results also suggest that the use of
positive communication strategies—and the avoidance of negative
communication behaviors—may improve the relationship satisfaction of
married couples even in challenging economic environments.
  Further exploration of positive and negative communication patterns as mediators.
QUESTIONS
4