Negative interactions and marital satisfaction across adulthood: The moderating role of affect valuation

Abstract

Older adults report higher marital satisfaction than younger adults even after negative interactions. The current study examined affect valuation as a potential moderator to explain age-related differences in the relationship between negative interactions and marital satisfaction. We conducted a 14-day daily diary study among 66 heterosexual couples (132 participants) aged from 21 to 80 years. At both person and daily levels, we found that valuing negative affect weakened the negative association between negative interactions and marital satisfaction in husbands. The moderating effect of negative affect valuation was stronger in older than younger husbands at the person but not daily level. Valuing positive affect more was associated with a stronger negative association between negative interactions and marital satisfaction in husbands at the person but not daily level. Such effect was again stronger in older than younger husbands. No significant results were found in wives. These findings shed light on the importance of affect valuation in understanding age-related differences in marital dynamics.