Stress Spillover in Early Marriage: The Role of Self-Regulatory Depletion
Stress Spillover in Early Marriage: The Role of Self-Regulatory Depletion
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DOI：
10.1037/a0029260
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发表时间：
2012-10-01
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Neff, Lisa A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Buck, April A.;Neff, Lisa A.
婚姻之外的压力经历(例如，工作压力、财务)通常与人际关系不佳和婚姻满意度降低有关，这一现象被称为压力溢出。然而，到目前为止，很少有人关注于了解压力可能导致不适应关系模式的具体机制。根据自我调节耗竭的理论，有人预测，应对外部压力是一个费力的过程，会消耗配偶的调节资源，让配偶没有更多的精力来有效地应对他们的关系问题。目前的研究依赖于一对新婚夫妇的样本，以检验自我调节能力的丧失是否可能解释外部压力和关系幸福感之间的联系。夫妇们被要求完成一份为期14天的每日日记，评估他们的日常压力、自我调节耗尽的状态、他们的婚姻行为，以及他们每天的婚姻评估。面对面的分析显示，平均而言，情侣们经历了压力溢出，当他们的压力比平时更大的时候，他们报告说对他们的伴侣采取了更多的负面行为，并对这段关系的积极评价较少。进一步的分析证实，自律耗尽是这些溢出效应的主要原因。这些发现表明，即使是幸福的夫妇也可能会发现，在压力条件下，很难进入适应性的关系过程。
Stressful experiences external to a marriage (e.g., work stress, finances) are often associated with poor relationship functioning and lowered marital satisfaction, a phenomenon called stress spillover. To date, however, little attention has been devoted to understanding the specific mechanisms through which stress may lead to maladaptive relationship patterns. Drawing from theories of self-regulatory depletion, it was predicted that coping with external stress is an effortful process that consumes spouses' regulatory resources, leaving spoues with less energy to effectively respond to their relationship issues. The current study relied on a sample of newly married couples to examine whether self-regulatory depletion may account for the link between external stress and relationship well-being. Couples were asked to complete a 14-day daily diary that assessed their daily stress, their state of self-regulatory depletion, their marital behaviors, and their daily marital appraisals. Within-person analyses revealed that, on average, couples experienced stress spillover, such that on days when their stress was higher than usual they reported enacting more negative behaviors toward their partner and endorsed less positive appraisals of the relationship. Further analyses confirmed that self-regulatory depletion accounted for a majority of these spillover effects. These findings suggest that even happy couples may find it difficult to engage in adaptive relationship processes under conditions of stress.