Accepting Influence in Military Couples: Implications for Couple- and Family-Level Outcomes

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Gottman identified the phenomenon accepting influence in couple relationships, defining it as the action of letting one’s partner influence their opinions, as well as the approach of being open-minded towards one’s partner. In this study, we examine accepting influence among a dyadic sample of military couples (N=242 couples). We first replicate Gottman’s findings which link accepting influence to couple satisfaction, and then expand this area of research by examining how accepting influence within the couple relationship relates to family-level outcomes based on theoretical underpinnings from systems theory and the spillover hypothesis. To model relationships within and between partners, we utilize an actor-partner interdependence model. Results demonstrate that accepting influence is related to both couple and family satisfaction in military families, although these were primarily actor effects (i.e., perceptions of accepting influence were primarily associated with personal reports of couple and family satisfaction). Implications for practice and research will be discussed.