中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: This study clarifies a Chinese concept often used in conflict resolution: ren (forbearance). We investigated the influence of ren on spousal support and marital satisfaction. Methods: With the assistance of 31 contact persons working in nursery schools or child-care institutes, we invited 404 couples living in the Taipei metropolitan area with at least 1 preschool child to complete a questionnaire packet. A total of 654 valid questionnaires (327 couples with mean age 38) were completed. Exploratory factor analysis identified 3 sub-concepts of ren: rong-ren (tolerance), ren-nai (endurance), and ren-rang (yieldingness). Further analyses of the data followed this categorization. Results: Significant differences between husbands and wives were found in the 3 different types of ren. The husbands' rong-ren, ren-nai, and ren-rang towards their wives was higher than the wives' was towards their husbands. Analyses of the husband sample indicated that (compared to those with high school or less education) college graduates had higher rong-ren and ren-rang towards their spouses; however, no differences were found in ren-nai. Regression analyses further indicated that the husbands' rong-ren not only predicted his marital satisfaction, it also increased his marital satisfaction through his wife's supporting behavior. In addition, the wives' rong-ren predicted their own marital satisfaction directly as well as indirectly through the intermediating effect of the husband's supporting behavior. Conclusions: This study identified 3 sub-constructs of ren. It also revealed group differences in gender and education of ren behavior in marriage. Of the 3 types of ren, the effect of rong-ren on marriage seemed to be the most obvious and positive. An individual's rong-ren not only predicted the spouse's supporting behavior, but also predicted the person's own marital satisfaction directly as well as indirectly.