夫妻內隱情感經驗：感恩、忍與婚姻滿意度

本研究旨在探討「感恩」與「忍」這兩種華人夫妻內隱的情感表達經驗，以及其對婚姻滿意度的影響。所採用的資料為「台灣社會變遷基本調查」資料庫中1,173名已婚或同居之填答者，所有問卷題項均經認知訪談與預訪程序確認。研究結果顯示，台灣夫妻的感恩感受高於感恩表達，呈現「感謝對方卻未說出口」的現象。本研究也發現感恩與忍行為的一些群體差異，男性比女性有較多的感恩感受，也較常出現忍耐、忍讓與容忍行為。此外，迴歸分析的結果顯示，不論男性或女性，感恩表達及感受均能顯著提高婚姻滿意度；而感恩表達與婚姻滿意度的關聯在40～65歲、國中職及以下與大專以上男性，以及65歲及以下、高中職及五專或以下女性的樣本最為明顯。至於忍行為對婚姻滿意度的預測效果則僅在男性樣本中出現，忍耐會降低婚姻滿意度，但容忍則能提高婚姻滿意；此項關聯特別是在年齡介於40～65歲之間與國中職以下教育程度的族群中最為明顯。

關鍵字

內隱情感；忍；婚姻滿意度；感恩

並列摘要

This study investigated the feeling and expression of gratitude and forbearance in Taiwanese couples, and their effect on marital satisfaction. Data were drawn from the Taiwan Social Change Survey 2011 data set, and consisted of 1,173 married or cohabited individuals. The results indicated that the feeling of gratitude was significantly higher than the expression of gratitude in Taiwanese couples, which implies the phenomenon of unspoken gratitude. We also identified gender differences. Men experienced more feelings of gratitude and showed higher frequencies of 3 different kinds of forbearance behaviors: suppression, concession, and tolerance. Regression analyses revealed that for both men (age 40-65, with an education level above college or under junior high school) and women (under 65, with only a high school degree or less), feelings and expression of gratitude both significantly positively correlated with the individual's marital satisfaction. Only in men did forbearance predict marital satisfaction. Suppression correlated with decreased marital satisfaction, while tolerance correlated with an increase. This relationship was especially true among the 40-65 age group and those with only a junior high or lower education. In sum, our findings highlighted that the feeling and expression of gratitude, as well as different types of forbearance had different effects on marital satisfaction for men and women. For men, the expression of gratitude showed higher effects on marital satisfaction, while tolerance rather than suppression was also beneficial to his marriage.