The Interdependent Nature of Well-Being: Evidence From American and Japanese Spouses

• Published in: Personality & social psychology bulletin 2024-10, p.1461672241285180
• Main Authors: Asano, Ryosuke, Kanemasa, Yuji, Komura, Kentaro, Ito, Kenichi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0146-1672; 1552-7433; 1552-7433
• DOI: 10.1177/01461672241285180

The present study investigated spousal interdependencies in well-being and the sources of these interdependencies among Americans and Japanese. We collected high-powered three-wave longitudinal and cross-sectional data from a wide age range of participants ( s = 3,012 American couples aged 26-96 and 2,307 Japanese couples aged 24-76) and assessed a variety of well-being measures. Study 1 replicated previous findings that American spouses' well-being was positively associated with each other. Studies 2a and 2b generalized the findings of Study 1 to Japanese spouses. Both Studies 1 and 2b showed conflicting results: There were effects of mutual influence and shared environmental factors' influences on American and Japanese spouses' well-being in a longitudinal actor-partner interdependence model when using the cross-lagged panel model, but not when using the random intercept cross-lagged panel model. These findings illustrate that the interdependent nature of well-being is an essential feature of American and Japanese married couples.