Let’s Figure This Out Together: Young Married Couples’ Milestone Conversations

Date
2014-01-14
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Abstract
In this research, I examined how young married couples make milestone decisions through conversations in ways that strengthen their relationships. Consideration was given to how the couples and I co-constructed the stories of making milestone decisions (i.e., ones the couple deems emotionally and/or practically significant for their relationship). Participant couples told stories of three decision-making conversations, connected those conversations in a story of how they make milestone decisions as a couple, and reflected on their interview experience. Using a bricolage of Riessman’s (2008) thematic and dialogic/performative approaches, derived from a social constructionist perspective, I analyzed the stories the couples and I co-constructed in the interviews. The couples engaged in a variety of collaborative relational practices to make milestone decisions in marriage-strengthening ways. They tended to connect their decision- making conversations by emphasizing their individuality and/or deciding together. I discuss the implications of my research for young married couples, counsellors, and researchers.
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Educational Psychology
Citation
Merritt, S. M. (2014). Let’s Figure This Out Together: Young Married Couples’ Milestone Conversations (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26751