Marital Conflict among Couples
Typically, unfulfilled expectations are sources of marital conflicts that seem to influence marital relationships. Unfulfilled expectations are associated with marital conflicts. Earlier studies, however, revealed that spousal support showed positive effects on marital satisfaction. Our study seeks to better understand why and when spousal support reduces the negative effects of unfulfilled expectations and marital conflicts. Specifically, we test the relationship of unfulfilled expectations with marital conflict as moderated by spousal support. We tested our assumptions in a field study that involved data collected with 494 participants drawn from University of Nigeria Nsukka in Enugu state of Nigeria. The measures consist of Marital Problems Questionnaire (MPQ), Marital Expectations Questionnaire (MEQ), Supportive Spouse Interaction Questionnaire, and demographic variables. Hayes Macro Process was used to test the hypotheses. Participants were 494 couples from Nsukka metropolis consisting of 128 males and 366 females (age range = 17–32 years; M = 21.36; SD = 2.67). Results from Hayes Macro Process confirmed that unfulfilled expectations were not significantly associated with marital conflict. Spousal support was negatively associated with marital conflict, showing the higher the spousal support the lesser the marital conflict. Additionally, spousal support did not moderate the relationship between unfulfilled expectations and marital conflict. Our study helps to better the understanding that spousal support serves as a protective factor to marital conflict such that as couples support each other, the possibility of marital conflicts are reduced and offers implications on how intervention should be focused on increasing spousal support in marital relationships among couples.