Martial satisfaction : resources and its effect on influence strategies in marriages.

• Main Author: Loh, Yi Qi.
• Other Authors: Michael David Gumert
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/48896
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This review attempts to understand the link between resources and marital satisfaction, through an investigation of the effects of access to resources and the control strategies employed on marital satisfaction. A general inference that can be made is that the cultural norms in a society and gender ideologies endorsed by the individual both play an important role in determining the effects of resource access on marital satisfaction. The choice of control strategy used to exert influence also affects the hierarchy and relationship between the couple. Coercive, unilateral and indirect strategies have been found to be the most damaging to the relationship, whereas positive, bilateral and direct strategies have been linked to the greatest satisfaction in the relationship. Also, usage of both prosocial and coercive strategies may be effective in resource acquisition, especially in close relationships. Further research will be required to illustrate the complex interaction of resources and influence styles on marital satisfaction. With the proliferation of dual-income couples in the present society, this review contributes to the literature by delineating the effects of husbands' and wives' resources on marital satisfaction.