Financial stress and marital outcomes in a non-metropolitan sample

The current study examined the relation between income, perceived financial stress and marital functioning in a sample of 424 dual-parent families with 7th graders drawn from 28 small towns and rural areas. Individuals who reported higher levels of perceived financial stress were hypothesized to report decreases in global and interactional indicators of marital quality. No gender differences were expected. Individuals were hypothesized to exhibit an attribution bias and more willingly recount their spouses detrimental behaviors as opposed to their own when experiencing elevated financial stress. Any resulting reductions in marital quality were expected to be more pronounced in married couples with higher incomes. As hypothesized, the financial stress measure had a significant association with the marital relationship, above and beyond income; however no gender or reporter differences were significant until further analysis of the interaction between financial stress and income. Among husbands who were experiencing higher levels of financial stress, those with higher income reported lower marital satisfaction and a lower level of positive behaviors by their spouse than did those husbands with lower income. These interactions were not significant for wives.