Using the Theory of Resilience and Relational Load to Examine the Impact of Couples’ Financial Conflict on Relational Load and (Hair and Salivary) Cortisol

Abstract

This study examined whether romantic partners’ relationship maintenance and communal orientation predict their financial conflict, and, in turn, their relational load and physiological stress. Eighty-two heterosexual, cohabitating couples participated in a conversation about their financial stress, completed surveys, and provided saliva and hair samples for cortisol. Overall, greater communal orientation and ongoing relationship maintenance were associated with less conflict about financial stress, as well as lower relational load. The findings revealed partner and actor effects. For women, feeling communally oriented was associated with less of their own and their partner’s relational load after the conversation by lessening both of their perceptions of conflict. Even though relationship maintenance and communal orientation did not significantly affect men’s physiological stress, women’s HCC and salivary cortisol (at p < .10) were mediated through their own and their partner’s perceptions of their financial conflict.