Abstract:

Situated within an equity framework, this study examined the association between relational maintenance behaviors and sexual communication satisfaction and determined the relative contributions of these variables in predicting marital satisfaction. Married couples (n = 386 from 193 married couples) responded to an on-line questionnaire that contained measures for five self-reported maintenance behaviors (openness, assurances, positivity, sharing tasks, social networks), sexual communication satisfaction, relational satisfaction, and perceived equity. Results indicate that, when compared to men in inequitable relationships, husbands in equitable marriages used more maintenance behavior. Overbenefitted husbands experienced higher levels of sexual communication satisfaction than did underbenefitted husbands and those in equitable marriages. Wives who perceived relational equity enacted more maintenance behavior and were more satisfied with sexual communication with their husbands.

Actor and partner effects revealed that one's own use of relational maintenance, and to a lesser extent, their spouse's enactment of maintenance, significantly impacted sexual communication satisfaction. Likewise, the use of all five relational maintenance behaviors associated with marital satisfaction. Husbands and wives' use of relational maintenance had a stronger effect on their own marital satisfaction than did partner-enacted maintenance. One's own sexual communication satisfaction associated significantly with their relational satisfaction; however, partners' sexual communication satisfaction did not.

Finally, findings from this study suggest that both relational maintenance behavior and sexual communication satisfaction are strong predictors of marital satisfaction. This dissertation provides an indication of how relational maintenance processes relate to the sexual component of marital relationships.