Network Approach to Understanding of Needs Fulfillment: Examining How Couple’s Needs Fulfillment Interacts and Changes During the Newlywed Years

Abstract

Needs fulfillment provides a deep insight into the motivational underpinnings of marital relationships. However, previous studies have primarily viewed needs fulfillment as a static and merged construct, failing to capture its interrelated and dyadic structure. Based on 277 Chinese newlywed couples, this study used network approach to investigate the structure of couples’ needs fulfillment network and its interplay with marital function during the first year of marriage. Results indicate that personal and relationship needs fulfillment are two hallmark features of couples’ needs fulfillment structures. Despite relatively weak associations between husbands’ and wives’ needs fulfillment, the clustering patterns of their needs fulfillment exhibit notable similarity. Security and caregiving needs fulfillment exhibited high centrality and were more strongly associated with marital functions. In contrast, companionship needs fulfillment demonstrated low centrality and weaker associations with marital functions, implying that examining the role of needs fulfillment at the level of specific needs is necessary.

Keywords

need fulfillment marital function network analyses newlywed couples

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aron

E. N.

Norman

(2007). Self-expansion model of motivation and cognition in close relationships and beyond. Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Interpersonal Processes, 1(1), 478–501. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470998557.ch19

Aron

E. N.

Aron

(1996). Love and expansion of the self: The state of the model. Personal Relationships, 3(1), 45–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.1996.tb00103.x

Beach

S. R. H.

Sandeen

E. E.

O’Leary

K. D.

(1990). Depression in marriage: A model for etiology and treatment. Guilford Press.

Booth

Johnson

Edwards

J. N.

(1983). Measuring marital instability. Journal of Marriage and Family, 1(1), 387–394. https://doi.org/10.2307/351516

Borsboom

(2017). A network theory of mental disorders. World Psychiatry, 16(1), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20375

Bringmann

L. F.

Eronen

M. I.

(2018). Don’t blame the model: Reconsidering the network approach to psychopathology. Psychological Review, 125(4), 606–615.

Cao

Fang

Fine

M. A.

Lan

Liu

(2015). Beyond the average marital communication: Latent profiles of the observed interactions among Chinese newlywed couples. Journal of Family Psychology, 29(6), 850–862. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000126

Cao

Chi

Liang

Fine

M. A.

(2019). Within‐couple configuration of gender‐related attitudes and its association with marital satisfaction in Chinese marriage: A dyadic, pattern-analytic approach. Journal of Personality, 87(6), 1189–1205.

Carpenter

C. J.

Spottswood

E. L.

(2013). Exploring romantic relationships on social networking sites using the self-expansion model. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(4), 1531–1537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.01.021

10.

Chen

Vansteenkiste

Beyers

Boone

Deci

E. L.

Van der Kaap-Deeder

… Verstuyf

(2015). Basic psychological need satisfaction, need frustration, and need strength across four cultures. Motivation and Emotion, 39, 216–236.

11.

Clark

M. S.

Aragón

O. R.

(2013). Communal (and other) relationships: History, theory development, recent findings, and future directions. In Simpson

J. A.

Campbell

(Eds.), Oxford library of psychology. The Oxford handbook of close relationships (pp. 255–280). Oxford University Press.

12.

Clark

M. S.

Mills

J. R.

(1993). The difference between communal and exchange relationships: What it is and is not. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 10(1), 684–691. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167293196003

13.

Coy

A. E.

Davis

J. L.

Green

J. D.

Etcheverry

P. E.

(2019). A dyadic model of investments: Partner effects on commitment. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36(11-12), 3471–3491. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407518822783

14.

Cramer

A. O. J.

Waldorp

L. J.

van der Maas

H. L. J.

Borsboom

(2010). Comorbidity: A network perspective. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(1), 137–193.

15.

Deci

E. L.

Ryan

R. M.

(2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(1), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01

16.

D’Emilio

Freedman

(2012). Intimate matters: A history of sexuality in America. University of Chicago Press.

17.

Devoldre

Davis

M. H.

Verhofstadt

L. L.

Buysse

(2010). Empathy and social support provision in couples: Social support and the need to study the underlying processes. Journal of Psychology, 144(3), 259–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223981003648294

18.

Duvall

E. M.

(1988). Family development’s first 40 years. Family Relations, 37(2), 127–134. https://doi.org/10.2307/584309

19.

Epskamp

Borsboom

Fried

E. I.

(2018). Estimating psychological networks and their accuracy: A tutorial paper. Behavior Research Methods, 50(1), 195–212. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-017-0862-1

20.

Epskamp

Cramer

A. O. J.

Waldorp

L. J.

Schmittmann

V. D.

Borsboom

(2012). Qgraph: Network visualizations of relationships in psychometric data. Journal of Statistical Software, 48(4), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v048.i04

21.

Epskamp

Fried

E. I.

(2018). A tutorial on regularized partial correlation networks. Psychological Methods, 23(4), 617–634. https://doi.org/10.1037/met0000167

22.

Feeney

B. C.

Thrush

R. L.

(2010). Relationship influences on exploration in adulthood: The characteristics and function of a secure base. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(1), 57–76. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016961

23.

Finkel

E. J.

Hui

C. M.

Carswell

K. L.

Larson

G. M.

(2014). The suffocation of marriage: Climbing mount Maslow without enough oxygen. Psychological Inquiry, 25(1), 1–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2014.863723

24.

Fraley

Aron

(2004). The effect of a shared humorous experience on closeness in initial encounters. Personal Relationships, 11(1), 61–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2004.00071.x

25.

Fraley

R. C.

Shaver

P. R.

(2000). Adult romantic attachment: Theoretical developments, emerging controversies, and unanswered questions. Review of General Psychology, 4(1), 132–154. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.4.2.132

26.

Guichard

Collins

(2008). The influence of social support and attachment style on performance, self-evaluations, and interpersonal behaviors. In Poster presented at the meeting of the society for personality and social psychology.

27.

Hadden

B. W.

Rodriguez

L. M.

Knee

C. R.

Porter

(2015). Relationship autonomy and support provision in romantic relationships. Motivation and Emotion, 39(1), 359–373. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-014-9455-9

28.

Hawkins

A. J.

Galovan

A. M.

Harris

S. M.

Allen

S. E.

Allen

S. M.

Roberts

K. M.

Schramm

D. G.

(2017). What are they thinking? A national study of stability and change in divorce ideation. Family Process, 56(4), 852–868. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12299

29.

Zhong

Tong

Lan

Fang

(2018). Forgiveness, marital quality, and marital stability in the early years of Chinese marriage: An actor–partner interdependence mediation model. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(1), 1520–1531. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01520

30.

Heavey

C. L.

Layne

Christensen

(1993). Gender and conflict structure in marital interaction: A replication and extension. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61(1), 16–27. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.61.1.16

31.

Impett

E. A.

Kim

J. J.

Muise

(2020). A communal approach to sexual need responsiveness in romantic relationships. European Review of Social Psychology, 31(1), 287–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2020.1796079

32.

Josephs

R. A.

Markus

H. R.

Tafarodi

R. W.

(1992). Gender and self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 391–402.

33.

Kelley

H. H.

Holmes

J. G.

Kerr

N. L.

Reis

H. T.

Rusbult

C. E.

Van Lange

P. A. M.

(2003). An atlas of interpersonal situations (pp. 506). Cambridge University Press.

34.

Kluwer

E. S.

Karremans

J. C.

Riedijk

Knee

C. R.

(2020). Autonomy in relatedness: How need fulfillment interacts in close relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 46(4), 603–616. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167219867964

35.

Kumashiro

Rusbult

C. E.

Finkel

E. J.

(2008). Navigating personal and relational concerns: The quest for equilibrium. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(1), 94–110. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.94

36.

Kumashiro

Rusbult

C. E.

Finkel

E. J.

(2008). Navigating personal and relational concerns: The quest for equilibrium. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(1), 94–110. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.94

37.

LaGuardia

J. G.

Ryan

R. M.

Couchman

C. E.

Deci

E. L.

(2000). Within-person variation in security of attachment: A self-determination theory perspective on attachment, need fulfillment, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(1), 367–394. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.79.3.367

38.

Lan

Cao

Zhou

Lin

Deng

Fang

(2017). Inequity of sacrifice and marital satisfaction in Chinese young couples. Journal of Family Therapy, 39(2), 169–192. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6427.12153

39.

Agnew

C. R.

(2001). Need fulfillment and emotional experience in interdependent romantic relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 18(1), 423–440. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407501183007

40.

Guo

Chen

Lan

Fang

(2024). Reciprocal associations between commitment, forgiveness, and different aspects of marital well‐being among Chinese newlywed couples. Family Process, 63(2), 879–896.

41.

Machia

L. V.

Proulx

M. L.

(2020). The diverging effects of need fulfillment obtained from within and outside of a romantic relationship. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 46(5), 781–793. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167219877849

42.

Maslow

A. H.

(1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(1), 370. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346

43.

Mikulincer

Shaver

P. R.

(2003). The attachment behavioral system in adulthood: Activation, psychodynamics, and interpersonal processes. In Zanna

M. P.

(Ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, (35, pp. 53–152): Academic Press.

44.

Mitchell

M. E.

Bartholomew

Cobb

R. J.

(2013). Need fulfillment in polyamorous relationships. The Journal of Sex Research, 51(3), 329–339. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2012.742998

45.

Neff

L. A.

Karney

B. R.

(2007). Stress crossover in newlywed marriage: A longitudinal and dyadic perspective. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69(3), 594–607. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2007.00394.x

46.

Norton

(1983). Measuring marital quality: A critical look at the dependent variable. Journal of Marriage and Family, 45(1), 141–151. https://doi.org/10.2307/351302

47.

Patrick

Knee

C. R.

Canevello

Lonsbary

(2007). The role of need fulfillment in relationship functioning and well-being: A self-determination theory perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(3), 434–457. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.3.434

48.

Powell

L. A.

(2005). Justice judgments as complex psychocultural constructions: An equity-based heuristic for mapping two- and three-dimensional fairness representations in perceptual space. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36, 48–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022104271426

49.

Rapoport

(1963). Normal crises, family structure and mental health. Family Process, 2(1), 68–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.1963.00068.x

50.

Reis

H. T.

Maniaci

M. R.

Caprariello

P. A.

Eastwick

P. W.

Finkel

E. J.

(2011). Familiarity does indeed promote attraction in live interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(1), 557–570.

51.

Rusbult

C. E.

Finkel

E. J.

Kumashiro

(2009). The Michelangelo phenomenon. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(1), 305–309. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01657.x

52.

Rusbult

C. E.

Van Lange

P. A. M.

(2003). Interdependence, interaction, and relationships. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 351–375.

53.

Selcuk

Zayas

Günaydin

Hazan

Kross

(2012). Mental representations of attachment figures facilitate recovery following upsetting autobiographical memory recall. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(2), 362–378. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028125

54.

Shaver

P. R.

Mikulincer

(2014). Attachment bonds in romantic relationships. In Mikulincer

Shaver

P. R.

(Eds.), Mechanisms of social connection: From brain to group (pp. 273–290). American Psychological Association. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1037/14250-016

55.

Sheldon

K. M.

Elliot

A. J.

Kim

Kasser

(2001). What is satisfying about satisfying events? Testing 10 candidate psychological needs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(2), 325–339. https://doi.org/10.1037//O022-3514.80.2.325

56.

Shenkman

(2018). The association between basic need satisfaction in relationship and personal growth among lesbian and heterosexual mothers. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 35(2), 246–262. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407516681192

57.

Tong

Jia

Lan

Fang

(2021). The trajectory of marital satisfaction among Chinese newlyweds: Intrapersonal, interpersonal, and stress predictors. Developmental Psychology, 57(4), 597–608.

58.

Tong

Jia

Zhou

Lan

(2021). Pathways among self-esteem, marital instability, and depression: A personality-relationship transactional perspective. Journal of Family Issues, 42(9), 2046–2063. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X20963166

59.

Tong

Lavner

A. J.

Jia

Fang

(2023). Dyadic profiles of sexual satisfaction among Chinese newlywed couples over time. The Journal of Sex Research, 60(3), 349–358. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2096845

60.

Trobst

K. K.

Collins

R. L.

Embree

J. M.

(1994). The role of emotion in social support provision: Gender, empathy, and expressions of distress. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 11(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407594111003

61.

Uchino

B. N.

Cacioppo

J. T.

Kiecolt-Glaser

J. K.

(1996). The relationship between social support and physiological processes: A review with emphasis on underlying mechanisms and implications for health. Psychological Bulletin, 119(1), 488–531.

62.

van Borkulo

Boschloo

Borsboom

Penninx

B. W. J. H.

Waldorp

L. J.

Schoevers

R. A.

(2015). Association of symptom network structure with the course of depression. JAMA Psychiatry, 72(12), 1219–1226. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.2079

63.

van Buuren

Groothuis-Oudshoorn

(2011). mice: Multivariate imputation by Chained equations in R. Journal of Statistical Software, 45(3), 1–67. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v045.i03

64.

VanderDrift

L. E.

Agnew

C. R.

(2012). Need fulfillment and stay–leave behavior: On the diagnosticity of personal and relational needs. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 29(2), 228–245. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407511431057

65.

VanderDrift

L. E.

Lewandowski Jr

G. W.

Agnew

C. R.

(2011). Reduced self-expansion in current romance and interest in relationship alternatives. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 28(3), 356–373. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407510382321

66.

Burleson

B. R.

(2001). Effects of sex, culture, and support type on perceptions of spousal social support: An assessment of the “support gap” hypothesis in early marriage. Human Communication Research, 27(4), 535–566.

67.

Yang

K. S.

(2001). Indigenous personality research: the Chinese case. Paper presented at the International workshop on scientific advances in Indigenous psychologies: philosophical, cultural and empirical contributions. Taipei, Taiwan.

68.

Zayas

Günaydin

Shoda

(2015). From an unknown other to an attachment figure: How do mental representations change as attachments form? In Bases of adult attachment (pp. 157–183). Springer. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9622-9_8

69.

Zhang

(2015). The role of willingness to sacrifice on the relationship between urban Chinese wives’ relative income and marital quality. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 41(3), 314–324. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2014.889057

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.87 MB