The Influence of Anxiety on Response to Negative Sentiment Override Assessment Protocols During Couples Counseling

Negative sentiment override (NSO), or messages and experiences interpreted in an increasingly negative manner, is one way to explain dissatisfaction in romantic relationships. In addition, psychological factors, like anxiety, have been shown to increase levels of dissatisfaction. In the current study, we examined the extent that significant anxiety, determined by responses to the Symptom Checklist–90, influenced the endorsement of items on Gottman’s NSO scale. We examined the item characteristic curves (ICCs) of the individual items on Gottman’s NSO scale and then tested for differential item functioning between those with significant anxiety and those without significant anxiety for a sample of 262 individuals seeking counseling. Our results demonstrate different ICC patterns between those with anxiety and those without. More specifically, individuals with anxiety reported elevated NSO compared to individuals without anxiety. Implications of these findings are discussed.

THE ROLE OF TRAIT FORGIVENESS IN MARITAL CONTENTMENT AMONG MARRIED COUPLES IN CITAM ASSEMBLIES, NAIROBI, KENYA

In most marriages, marital problems are encountered once in a while. Couples who have very happy marriages also encounter problems in their relationship with each other due to an offense committed by the spouse. For a couple to maintain a healthy marital relationship, they need to have the ability to forgive each other. Through forgiveness, married partners become more like Christ and invite the Holy Spirit to enable them to show their love for the spouse and build a safe and holy relationship that could bring contentment. The study examined the role of trait forgiveness in marital contentment among married men and women selected in two Christ Is the Answer Ministries (CITAM) assemblies in Nairobi, namely Woodley and Valley Road. The objectives of the study were to examine the role of trait forgiveness on marital contentment and to investigate how commitment, empathy, and communication affect the relationship between forgiveness and marital contentment. A mixed-methods design was used to collect data using questionnaires and a focus group discussion guide. Results showed a very strong positive correlation between trait forgiveness and marital contentment with a relatively high composite score being obtained for trait forgiveness. Results revealed themes of intimacy, patience, affirmation, self-control, reflection, and praying together on the moderating role of commitment, empathy, and communication. This calls for its magnification in both counseling practice and marriage and family therapy sessions as a sustainable antidote to marital contentment under relational stress, especially among Christian couples. Counseling practitioners should therefore emphasize the principle of forgiveness as the key to healing emotional wounds that are caused by offenses that manifest in the course of a marriage.

For Love or Money? Factors Associated With the Choice Between Couple-Based Versus Individual Financial Coaching

There has been much effort in recent years to address some of the damage of the recent global financial crisis with financial literacy education. Little research has been done, however, on the factors that might affect the decision to seek individual versus couples-based financial education. We used a survey instrument administered via the online labor market, Mechanical Turk, to examine factors associated with this outcome: whether members of a couple would choose individual or couples financial coaching. All participants were screened for current membership in a committed relationship for at least 6 months. Most participants reported a preference for couples versus individual financial counseling. Key factors that predicted a likelihood to opt for couples’ counseling include gender, age, and satisfaction with one’s relationship. Results from this study suggest that how and why consumers seek financial education may be affected by social, cultural, emotional, and relational factors as well as financial concerns. Such factors should be considered by practitioners in this field if program marketing, design, and delivery are to be relevant to participants and effective.