婚姻早期的適應過程－－新婚夫妻之質性研究

A Qualitative Study of Newlyweds’ Marital Adjustment Processes

本研究以深入訪談的方式，蒐集二十對台北地區結婚三年內新婚夫妻之質性資料。資料分析的方式是依循紮根理論的主題抽取程序而成。研究者發現在現今的台灣社會中新婚夫妻婚姻適應問題的來源主要在於夫妻與原生家庭成員間的適應、夫妻間的相互適應及家庭與工作間的協調等。而父系的家庭制度與家居安排、文化傳統對性別與夫妻角色的規範，原生家庭家庭規則的衝突等脈絡因素則在夫妻適應的過程中產生重要且決定性的影響。新婚夫妻會以各種不同的方式或策略來面對適應過程中產生的問題，研究者以積極－－消極、個人內－－個人外（配偶、其他相關他人）兩個向度將夫妻採用之調適策略分類。研究者發現，夫與妻在調適的需要程度、內容及方式上有差異。夫妻當中任何一方採用的方式可能會引起另外一方的回應，而這樣的回應又會導致原來這一方的反應，因而形成一種固定且循環的歷程，並使夫妻對適應的結果產生不同的認知與情緒。

Marital adjustment has been a major topic of research for many years, yet researchers have not achieved consensus on how to conceptualize and study it. Two major limitations exist in previous marital adjustment research: lack of a theoretical framework and the focus on adjustment as an end rather than a process. The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptualization of marital adjustment as a process. Through in-depth interviews with twenty Taiwanese newlywed couples, a preliminary model explaining the marital adjustment process is established, with the final goal of enhancing understanding and developing an indigenous theory of Chinese marital relationships. Qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews were analyzed using the grounded theory approach. Results show that areas in which marital adjustments were called for could be classified as adjustment between the couple and their families of origin, adjustment between spouses, and adjustment between family and work. The model of marital adjustment generated by this study suggests that there are different pathways through which marital partners adjust to each other. Adjustment takes place either as a mutual influencing process through which both partners alter their attitudes or behavior, as an accommodation process in which one partner controls the relationship, or through a process of constant quarrelling and bickering. Finally, gender differences were found in the strategies that husbands and wives use in dealing with adjustment problems.