The Association Between Time Spent Using Entertainment Media and Marital Quality in a Contemporary Dyadic National Sample

This study used the Actor Partner Interdependence Model and a national sample of married couples ( N  = 1368) to explore the relationship between entertainment media use and marital satisfaction, conflict, and perceived marital instability. Entertainment media-use included newer types of media (e.g....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of family and economic issues 2015-12, Vol.36 (4), p.621-632
Main Authors: Dew, Jeffrey, Tulane, Sarah
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computer & video games
Couples
Economic models
Economic statistics
Economic theory
Entertainment
Families & family life
Family
Husbands
Hypotheses
Marriage
Networking
Original Paper
Personal relationships
Personality and Social Psychology
Psychological aspects
Social exchange theory
Social networks
Social Policy
Social research
Social Sciences
Sociology
Studies
Time use
Websites
Wives
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Summary:This study used the Actor Partner Interdependence Model and a national sample of married couples ( N  = 1368) to explore the relationship between entertainment media use and marital satisfaction, conflict, and perceived marital instability. Entertainment media-use included newer types of media (e.g., social networking websites) as well as traditional media (e.g., television). A number of negative relationships between media use and wives’ and husbands’ marital quality emerged. Husbands’ use of social networking websites, in particular, was associated with many of the marital quality variables. The effect sizes of media use were small, however. We also explored whether the relationship worked in reverse and whether media use differences between the spouses would relate to marital quality. When spouses reported different levels of using video games, they also reported lower levels of marital quality. The findings suggest that as media technology continues to change, it may relate to marital quality in new ways.
ISSN:1058-0476
1573-3475
DOI:10.1007/s10834-014-9427-y