Let it be: expatriate couples' adjustment and the upside of avoiding conflicts |
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| Authors: | Kim J.P.M. van Erp Ellen Giebels Karen I. van der Zee Marijtje A.J. van Duijn |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences,Department of Psychology , University of Groningen , Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS, Groningen, The Netherlands k.j.p.m.v.erp@tue.nl;3. Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, Department of Psychology of Conflict, Risk &4. Safety , University of Twente , P.O. Box 217, 7500, AE Enschede, The Netherlands;5. Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Institute of Integration and Social Efficacy , University of Groningen , Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS, Groningen, The Netherlands;6. Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology , University of Groningen , Grote Rozenstraat 31, 9712 TG, Groningen, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | This research examines the moderating effect of conflict avoidance on the relationship between conflict and psychological adjustment among 45 expatriate couples at two points in time. We propose a model based on the actor–partner interdependence model, which assumes both intrapersonal and interpersonal effects, to address simultaneously the effects of one's own and the other's avoidance behavior. We found substantial support for our model, especially for expatriate spouses. As expected, and only for expatriate spouses, avoidance moderated the conflict–adjustment relationship such that both one's own and one's counterpart's avoidance behavior diminished the negative effect of conflicts. Because these effects were observed only at T2 and psychological adjustment decreased from T1 to T2, our research suggests that the impact of expatriation-associated interaction particularly manifests itself in the long run. |
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| Keywords: | expatriate couples conflict conflict avoidance psychological adjustment dyadic interaction |
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