title: Communication behavior and relationship satisfaction among American and Chinese newlywed couples.
abstract: Most research on couple communication patterns comes from North America and Europe and suggests cross-cultural universality in effects, but emerging studies suggest that couple communication takes different forms depending on the cultural context in which it occurs. The current study addressed this discrepancy by comparing the observed social support behaviors of 50 newlywed American couples and 41 newlywed Mainland Chinese couples, first on mean levels of positivity and negativity and second on behavior-satisfaction associations. Consistent with predictions derived from observational work by Tsai and Levenson (1997), Chinese couples were observed displaying significantly more negative behavior than American couples, even after controlling for relationship satisfaction; the 2 groups did not differ in observed positive behaviors. Tests of the moderating role of culture on behavior-satisfaction associations showed that positivity was significantly related to relationship satisfaction only for American husbands, whereas negativity was significantly associated with relationship satisfaction only for Chinese husbands. We speculate that cultural contexts may influence the display and evaluation of behavior in intimate relationships, suggesting the need for caution when generalizing models and associated interventions to non-Western couples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA. hwilliamson@psych.ucla.edu
authors.forename: Hannah C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.forename: Thomas N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Bradbury
authors.forename: Benjamin R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Karney
authors.forename: Xiaoyi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Xuanwen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012737:Sex Factors; D018454:Spouses / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires