Marital enqing: an examination of its relationship to spousal contributions, sacrifices, and family stress in Chinese marriages

The purpose of this study was to extend understanding of Chinese couples' enqing, a culturally specific component of marital affection that involves the expression of feelings of gratitude and admiration toward one's spouse. In this study, the authors examined family stress, spousal contributions, and sacrifices to study their possible effects on enqing in Chinese marriages. Participants were 455 married people living in northern Taiwan. Overall, the results highlighted the importance of spousal contributions and sacrifices in the development of marital enqing. Additionally, the results indicated that family stress moderated the spousal economic contribution--enqing relationship and the spousal sacrifices--enqing relationship for wives, but not for husbands.