The effects of collaborative and non-aggressive communication on the relationship between the division of labor(s) and marital quality for dual-earner couples

Abstract

Guided by equity theory and the distributive justice perspective, this study examined the explanatory role of positive communication behaviors (i.e., collaborative communication and non-aggressive communication) when looking at perceptions of fairness in the divisions of family labors (i.e., household, childcare, and wage labor) and marital quality. These relationships were tested intrapersonally and interpersonally as dyadic data from 120 dual-earner married couples with young children were analyzed. Data were collected using a planned missing data design. The planned missing values were imputed using Multiple Imputation (MI). Direct effects associated with collaborative communication indicated that greater perceived fairness in the divisions of household and childcare labor were associated with greater own use of collaborative communication by husbands and wives. Greater perceived fairness in the division of wage labor was associated with greater own use of collaborative communication for wives, but not for husbands. Additionally, greater use of collaborative communication was associated with greater own and partner assessments of marital quality for husbands and wives. Direct effects associated with non-aggressive communication indicated greater husband perceptions of fairness in the division of household labor were associated with greater husband use of non-aggressive communication, and greater husband and wife perceptions of fairness in the division of wage labor were found to predict greater own use of non-aggressive communication. In most situations, greater use of non-aggressive communication by both husbands and wives lead to greater own and spouse assessments of marital quality. The exceptions concern household and childcare labor wherein husbands' use of non-aggressive communication did not have an effect on wives' assessment of marital quality. Indirect effects indicated that collaborative communication is a mechanism by which husbands' and wives' perceptions of fairness in the divisions of household and childcare labor influenced their own and their partners' assessments of marital quality. Concerning fairness in the division of wage labor, only wives' perceptions of fairness were indirectly linked to wives' marital quality through their own use of collaborative communication. Results concerning non-aggressive communication indicated that only in the context of wage labor were husbands' and wives' perceptions of fairness related to their assessments of marital quality through non-aggressive communication. This study highlighted the importance of studying communication as an explanatory variable. This research can be utilized by scholars, counselors, and dual-earner married couples to better understand how fairly dividing family labors and using positive communication behaviors can enable more satisfying marriages.