The American Journal of Family Therapy

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Differentiation of Self Predicts Life Satisfaction

through Marital Adjustment

Erkan Işık, Şerife Özbiler, Maria L. Schweer-Collins & Martiño Rodríguez-

González

To cite this article: Erkan Işık, Şerife Özbiler, Maria L. Schweer-Collins & Martiño Rodríguez-
González (2020) Differentiation of Self Predicts Life Satisfaction through Marital Adjustment,
The American Journal of Family Therapy, 48:3, 235-249, DOI: 10.1080/01926187.2020.1732248

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2020.1732248

Published online: 03 Mar 2020.

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THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FAMILY THERAPY
2020, VOL. 48, NO. 3, 235–249
https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2020.1732248

Differentiation of Self Predicts Life Satisfaction through

Marital Adjustment
€
Erkan Işıka , Şerife Ozbiler a
, Maria L. Schweer-Collinsb ~o
, and Martin
Rodrıguez-Gonzalez c

a
Faculty of Education, Department of Guidance and Psychological Counseling, Cyprus
International University, Nicosia, Turkey; bDepartment of Counseling Psychology and Human
Services, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA; cInstitute for Culture and Society (ICS),
Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Previous studies have documented the link between differenti- Received 4 January 2020
ation of self and life satisfaction. However, the underlying Revised 14 February 2020
mechanisms explaining these associations are yet to be tested Accepted 14 February 2020
at the dyadic level. This study examined the mediating role of
KEYWORDS
marital adjustment in the association between differentiation Differentiation of self; life
of self and life satisfaction among 113 Turkish heterosexual satisfaction; marital
married couples (N ¼ 226). Analyses using the Common Fate adjustment; married
Model demonstrated that differentiation of self was associated couples
with higher levels of marital adjustment and life satisfaction,
such that marital adjustment was positively associated with
life satisfaction, and in turn, marital adjustment fully mediated
this association. Implications are discussed for clinicians and
cross-cultural researchers who seek to promote greater life
satisfaction by targeting both differentiation and mari-
tal adjustment.

Bowen’s Family Systems Theory (BFST) is a leading systems-focused theor-

etical framework commonly employed by couples and family therapists and
their respective training programs. Moreover, BFST is considered by many
leading couples researchers to provide a comprehensive lens for better
understanding how couple relationships either develop either successfully
or become overwhelmed by dysfunctional patterns of communication and
behaviors (Schnarch, 1998; Titelman, 2014). Although BFST was theorized
initially in the United States, many elements of Bowen’s theory may be
relevant to more collectivist societies as well (Rodrıguez-Gonzalez et al.,
2019). To date, mixed findings have been reported to support the assump-
tion that BFST is universally relevant. Miller, Anderson, and Keals (2004)
reviewed fifteen years of research on the theoretical validity of BFST. At

CONTACT Erkan Işık eisik@ciu.edu.tr; erkanthelight@gmail.com Faculty of Education, Department of

Guidance and Psychological Counseling, Cyprus International University, 99258, Nicosia, North Cyprus, Mersin
10, Turkey.
ß 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
236 E. IŞIK ET AL.

the time of their review, they suggested that more research was needed to
support the claim that Bowen’s theory is universal. In a recent study testing
the differentiation of self (DoS) constructs across Italy, Spain, Greece, and
Portugal, Lampis et al. (2019) also suggested that more research was needed
among different cultural groups for a better understanding of the
DoS concept.
Beyond an initial study reported that the Differentiation of Self
Inventory-Revised was a valid and reliable measure of DoS for Turkish
populations, there are only few studies examining core assumptions of
_
BFST in the Turkish context (e.g., Polat & Ilhan, 2018; Sarıkaya, Boyacı,
_
Ilhan, & Aldemi, 2018). Based on these initial findings, further investigation
on BFST’s universality is needed to systematically guide the efforts of men-
tal health providers in providing evidence-based services to families and
couples in different cultural groups. Therefore, this study focused on testing
the tenets of the BFST in a non-Western collectivistic cultural context.
To assess the relevance of BFST for married Turkish adults, we will spe-
cifically assess whether greater differentiation, a core concept of BFST, is
associated with better marital adjustment and higher levels of life satisfac-
tion, and second, whether martial adjustment serves as a mechanism by
which differentiation predicts higher levels of couples’ life satisfaction.

DoS and marital adjustment

Differentiation of self (DoS), the core construct of Bowen’s Family Systems
Theory (BFST), has been conceptualized as an ability to balance between
intimacy and autonomy; emotional, intellectual functioning in the relation-
ships. Bowen (1978) postulated that highly differentiated people are more
flexible and adaptable, more capable of thoughtful consideration of one’s
actions and values in relationships, while still being able to connect with
significant others. Whereas more poorly differentiated people are likely to
focus their attention on emotional experiences rather than on fulfilling
tasks or life objectives, and they are more likely to create fused relation-
ships, responding to stressful events with emotional cutoff or fusion. Thus,
levels of DoS have been theorized as central functioning of the family and
couple relationship (Bowen, 1978; Kerr & Bowen, 2019; Schnarch, 1998;
Titelman, 2014).
Several studies have tested the relation between DoS and martial adjust-
ment (Ferreira, Narciso, Novo, & Pereira, 2014; Khaddouma, Gordon, &
Bolden, 2015; Lampis, Cataudella, Busonera, & Skowron, 2017; Lohan &
Gupta, 2016; Norona & Welsh, 2016; Rodrıguez-Gonzalez, Skowron,
Cagigal de Gregorio, & Mu~ noz San Roque, 2016). Many studies confirmed
that higher levels of DoS were associated with greater marital adjustment.
 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FAMILY THERAPY 237

(Glad, 1999; Gubbins, Perosa, & Bartle-Haring, 2010; Lampis, 2016;

Skowron, 2000). Among a sample of U.S. couples, greater DoS was predict-
ive of better marital adjustment, and while couples did not show similar
levels of DoS, findings indicated that greater husband emotional cutoff
uniquely accounted for husband and wife marital discord (Skowron, 2000).
Additional research in a study of 121 Israeli men and women, found that
DoS related to the marital satisfaction (Peleg, 2008). Specifically, Peleg
(2008) found that lower emotional cutoff was related with greater marital
satisfaction for both men and women. Together these studies highlight the
importance of considering how the individual’s differentiation-based strat-
egies for managing disagreement and difference in intimate relationships
might relate to functioning in the larger system, that is, the couple relation-
ship. Extending these results to other domains of DoS, Lampis et al. (2017)
found that emotional reactivity, I position, emotional cutoff and codepend-
ency significantly correlated with dyadic adjustment in couple relationships.

DoS and life satisfaction

Given that DoS has been shown to predict greater satisfaction in close,
intimate relationships, it makes sense that DoS would also predict broader
fulfillment in one’s life. A small number of researchers have tested this
proposition and, results revealed that more highly differentiated individuals
are also more satisfied with their lives (Diener, 2000; Manzi, Vignoles,
Regalia, & Scabini, 2006; Oishi, 2006; Ross & Murdock, 2014). Relatedly,
individuals with a higher levels of differentiation have been shown to cope
with life tensions better than others, in part because their differentiation is
thought to support a more adaptable and flexible approach to relationships,
and because more highly differentiated individuals are less inclined to act
solely on the basis of emotions (Kim, You, & Jung, 2015). Biadsy-Ashkar
and Peleg (2013) demonstrated, in a sample of Jewish and Arab women
residing in Israel, that women who endorsed being more satisfied in life
reported lower levels of emotional cutoff, and a greater ability to take an I-
position. Additionally, an experimental research has shown that persons
with higher levels of DoS displayed lower scores on measures of anxiety,
depression and higher scores of self-satisfaction (Vancea, 2013). Moreover,
a recent finding indicated that self-differentiation training based on BFST
with Iranian women could significantly enhance their ability to manage
their emotions (Mohammadi, Alibakhshi, & Sedighi, 2019). Thus, emerging
findings provide some preliminary support for the idea that coaching
greater DoS may help to promote greater life satisfaction for individuals
who reside in couple or marital relationships.
238 E. IŞIK ET AL.

The present study

This study seeks to contribute to the existing BFST literature in two ways.
First, though the effects of DoS on life satisfaction and marital adjustment
on life satisfaction have been shown, little research has attempted to
explore the potential mechanism underlying the relationship between DoS
and life satisfaction. Moreover, it is important to understand if life satisfac-
tion can be enhanced by promoting DoS and marital adjustment in samples
of couples. The current study permits us to test the antecedents and media-
tional relationships operating on life satisfaction, and can help to inform
and shape inform evidence-based couple and family interventions
Additionally, the majority of the studies on BFST are tested in US popula-
tions or other individualistic cultures, but Bowen (1976, 1978) posited that
DoS was universally relevant. In light of this, there have been recent calls
to increase research on BFST in nonwestern cultures (Rodrıguez-Gonzalez
et al., 2019). Thus, the second contribution of this study is to examine the
cross-cultural relevance of BFST by specifically testing these relationships
among a sample of Turkish heterosexual adults, for which only few studies
of BFST exists. Toward these goals, this study poses the follow-
ing hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: DoS will be positively correlated with life satisfaction.

Hypothesis 2: Marital adjustment will be positively correlated with life satisfaction.

Hypothesis 3: DoS will be positively correlated with marital adjustment.

Hypothesis 4: Marital adjustment will mediate the relationship between DoS and life
satisfaction.

Method
Participants and procedures
The participants were 113 heterosexual married couples (226 individuals).
The mean age of women was 41.5 years (SD ¼ 7.2) and 45.5 years
(SD ¼ 8.2) for men. The mean marriage duration was 20.1 years (SD ¼ 8.7)
and the average number of children was 3.21 (SD ¼ 1.1). The majority of
the participants had a high school level education (35% of women, 38% of
men) and self-identified as middle class (59% of women, 51% of men).
Participants were recruited through graduate students who volunteered
to deliver the questionnaires to married adult members of their families
and their spouses or complete the questionnaires themselves if they were
currently married. After obtaining institutional review board approval, stu-
dents were informed about the study and volunteer students were provided
 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FAMILY THERAPY 239

written informed consent forms, demographic questionnaires, and packets

of instruments in a sealed envelope. Participants were instructed to com-
plete the instruments separately from their partners and to seal them in
envelopes provided. Those choosing not to participate were informed that
they could return the questionnaires in the envelopes. Of the 350 envelopes
distributed, 285 were returned (81.4% response rate). Fifty-nine question-
naires were not included either because they were blank or incomplete
(e.g., only completed by one spouse or only one questionnaire was com-
pleted), resulting in a final total of 226 participants.

Instruments
Differentiation of Self Inventory-Revised (DSI-R; Skowron & Schmitt, 2003).
The DSI-R is a 46-item measure of differentiation. It includes four sub-
scales: Emotional Reactivity (ER), Taking “I” Position (IP), Emotional
Cutoff (EC), and Fusion with Others (FO). Sample items are: “I’m overly
sensitive to criticism” (ER), “I usually do what I believe is right regardless
of what others say” (IP), “I often feel inhibited around my family” (EC),
and “I feel a need for approval from virtually everyone in my life” (FO).
Responses are made on a 6-point scale ranging from 1 (Not at all true of
me) to 6 (Very true of me). Skowron and Schmitt (2003) reported
Cronbach alphas ranging from a ¼ .81 to a ¼ .92 and significant correla-
tions with fear of abandonment, desire to merge, and spousal fusion in the
expected directions. The Turkish version of the DSI-R (Işık & Bulduk,
2015) presents the same four-factor structure with 20 items. Işık and
Bulduk reported adequate to strong internal consistency reliabilities varying
from a ¼ .74 to a ¼ .81 and significant correlations with trait anxiety. In
the current study, the estimated internal consistencies for the DoS total
scale were a ¼ .78 for women and a ¼ .83 for men.
Marital Adjustment Scale (MAS; Locke & Wallace, 1959). The 15-item
MAS is a well-established measure of marital adjustment. Participants
responded to questions about various aspects of their relationship (e.g., han-
dling family finances, sex relations, demonstration of affections) on different
scales. Based on Hunt’s (1978) method, the possible scores range from 0 to
60, with higher scores indicating greater marital adjustment. Substantive
research supported the reliability and validity of the MAS (Cohen, 1985;
Hunt, 1978; Kısa, Zeyneloglu, Yılmaz, & G€ uner, 2014; Wang, Wang, Li, &
Miller, 2014). The Turkish version of the MAS (Tutarel-Kışlak, 1999) also
demonstrated high internal reliability estimates with Cronbach alpha coeffi-
cient of a ¼ .84 and correlations with measures of interpersonal relation-
ships and relationship attributions. In the current study, the estimated
internal consistency was a ¼ .87 for both women and men.
240 E. IŞIK ET AL.

Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin,
1985). The SWLS contains 5 items measuring respondents’ overall life satis-
faction on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7
(Strongly agree). Sample items are “In most ways my life is close to my
ideal” and “The conditions of my life are excellent.” Diener et al. reported
high correlation with other measures of subjective well-being and high reli-
ability estimates with a Cronbach’s alpha of a ¼ .87. Similar results were
found for the Turkish version of the SWLS (Durak, Senol-Durak, &
Gencoz, 2010) with internal reliability estimates ranging from a ¼ .81 to a
¼ .89, and concurrent validity was supported with measures of depression,
self-esteem, positive and negative affect, work stress, and income. The esti-
mated internal consistency in this study was a ¼ .86 for women and a ¼
.87 for men.

Data analysis
All preliminary analyses, descriptive statistics, and correlations were con-
ducted using SPSS 22.0. Furthermore, to account for the non-independence
of the couple data, we employed a Common Fate Model (CFM) using max-
imum likelihood estimation in AMOS 24.0. The CFM is considered as the
most appropriate approach especially when the measured variables are
common dyadic constructs that affect both dyad members because they
share common variance on these constructs (Ledermann & Kenny, 2012).
In the current study, following Ledermann and Macho’s (2009) suggestions,
we used both spouses’ scores as the indicators of each latent dyadic varia-
bles of DoS, marital adjustment, and life satisfaction to test our mediation
hypothesis (Figure 1). The adequacy of the model fit was evaluated by the
chi-square (v2), a comparative fit index (CFI) of .95 or above, a root mean
square error of approximation (RMSEA) of .06 or below and a standar-
dized root mean square residual (SRMR) of .08 or below (Hu &
Bentler, 1999).

Results
Preliminary analysis
No cases were detected as multivariate outliers through examination of
Mahalanobis distances. Skewness and kurtosis values were all in the range
of 1 to þ1, indicating normal distribution. In addition, there were no
issues with multicollinearity in the data given that the highest correlation
between variables was .58, the largest variance inflation factor was 1.51,
and the highest condition indices value was 14.8, all of which were all
 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FAMILY THERAPY 241

Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations, and intercorrelations.

Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Differentiation of self women 3.64 0.44 –
2. Differentiation of self men 3.92 0.45 .43 –
3. Marital adjustment women 46.66 0.63 .27 .30 –
4. Marital adjustment men 47.71 0.56 .30 .31 .56 –
5. Life satisfaction women 4.86 1.19 .29 .20 .58 .39 –
6. Life satisfaction men 4.88 1.12 .22 .30 .19 .41 .36 –
Note. Range for differentiation of self: 1–6, range for marital adjustment (total score): 0–60, range for life satis-
faction 1–7.
p < .05.
p < .01.
p < .001.

below the threshold values of .90, 10, and 30, respectively (Çokluk,
Şekercioglu, & B€
uy€
uk€ozt€
urk, 2010; Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007).
Means, standard deviations, and correlations for all variables are pre-
sented in Table 1. Women and men did not differ significantly in marital
adjustment and life satisfaction. Men, however, reported higher levels of
DoS (t ¼ 6.28, p < .001). As hypothesized, all study variables demonstrated
significant associations with each other for male and female participants.
Furthermore, the correlations between wives’ and husbands’ scores for each
construct were medium to large, providing support for using a CFM
approach (Ledermann & Kenny, 2012).

Multigroup modeling
In order to examine whether associations between study variables differed
across genders, we first conducted a multi-group analysis. To reduce model
complexity and estimation errors due to multiple items for the marital
adjustment latent variable, we created three parcels using item-to-construct
balancing procedures (Little, Cunningham, Shahar, & Widaman, 2002).
Indicators for DoS were the four subscales of the DSI-R and indicators for
life satisfaction were the five respective items of the SWLS. To test gender
differences in our partially mediated model in which DoS had both a direct
effect and an indirect effect (via marital adjustment) on life satisfaction, we
compared two models: an unconstrained model which allowed the paths to
vary across genders, and a constrained model which constrained the paths
across genders to be equal. Both models demonstrated good fit to the data,
v2 (102) ¼ 152.6, p < .01, CFI ¼ .946, RMSEA ¼ .049, SRMR ¼ .071 for
the unconstrained model, v2 (111) ¼ 164.1, p < .01, CFI ¼ .943, RMSEA
¼ .048, SRMR ¼ .068 for the constrained model. When v2 difference was
examined (Yuan & Bentler, 2004), the results showed that the two models
were not significantly different (D v2 (9) ¼ 11.5, p > .05), suggesting that
the partially-mediated model did not differ across genders. Lastly, we exam-
ined each path coefficient and found that all the relations were similar in
magnitude for both women and men.
242 E. IŞIK ET AL.

Figure 1. The Common Fate Mediation Model with standardized coefficients testing marital
adjustment as the mediating variable in the association between differentiation of self and life
satisfaction. DoS ¼ Differentiation of self; MA ¼ Marital Adjustment; LS ¼ Life satisfaction.

The common fate model

To test our hypothesis that marital adjustment mediates the relationship
between DoS and life satisfaction, we first calculated a CFM assessing the
direct effect of DoS on life satisfaction without including the mediator vari-
able. Then, we estimated a CFM with marital adjustment as a mediator and
direct path from DoS to life satisfaction (see Fig 1). The direct effect model
provided a good fit to the data, v2 (1) ¼ .155, p ¼ .694, CFI ¼ 1.000,
RMSEA < .001, SRMR ¼ .011. As expected, the direct effect of DoS on life
satisfaction in the absence of marital adjustment was significant (b ¼ .51, p
< .001). This model explained 26% of the variance in life satisfaction. The
partially mediated model also provided a good fit to the data, v2 (3) ¼
2.967, p ¼ .397, CFI ¼ 1.000, RMSEA < .001, SRMR ¼ .028. DoS signifi-
cantly predicted marital adjustment (b ¼ .61, p < .001), and marital adjust-
ment significantly predicted life satisfaction (b ¼ .68, p < .001). The
explained variance of marital adjustment through DoS was 37%, whereas
DoS and marital adjustment accounted together for 54% of the variance in
life satisfaction. After accounting for the mediating effect of marital adjust-
ment, the direct effect of DoS on life satisfaction was no longer significant
(b ¼ .09, p > .05), suggesting that marital adjustment fully mediated the
association between DoS and life satisfaction.
 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FAMILY THERAPY 243

In order to test the significance of the mediation, we used bootstrapping

procedures (Shrout & Bolger, 2002). Bootstrapping samples were generated
from 5,000 bootstrapping samples from the original data set using the bias-
corrected estimation method (Arbuckle, 2013). The indirect effect of DoS
on life satisfaction was significant (b ¼ .42, p < .001) and the 95% confi-
dence interval (CI) for the mediation effects (.12, .49) did not include zero,
indicating that the mediating effect of marital adjustment was significant.

Discussion
The purpose of the current study was to examine the role of marital adjust-
ment in the relationship between DoS and life satisfaction in a sample of
married Turkish individuals. Results showed that greater of DoS predicted
better life satisfaction, by means of greater marital adjustment as indicated
by the significant indirect effect on life satisfaction. Furthermore, results
showed that the indirect effect of marital adjustment operated in the same
way for both men and women.
Previous research has shown significant interactions between the varia-
bles of DoS, martial adjustment, and life satisfaction, but this is the first
study to examine the relationships between all three variables through
advanced analyses (i.e., structural equation modeling and mediation analy-
ses). Greater differentiation predicts better marital adjustment consistently
across several different cultural groups (Lampis, 2016; Rodrıguez-Gonzalez
et al., 2016; Skowron, 2000), yet the means by which this relationship may
ultimately lead to greater life satisfaction has not been explored. Findings
from the current study show that marital adjustment accounts for the
indirect effect of DoS on the life satisfaction levels, in other words, higher
DoS predicts higher marital satisfaction which in turn, improves life satis-
faction for couples. These findings are important because they go beyond
describing individuals who are satisfied with their life circumstances, a link
that is well established (i.e., greater marital adjustment and greater life sat-
isfaction; Proulx, Helms, & Buehler, 2007), and instead move toward better
explaining how and why people report greater life satisfaction.
These findings are relevant for the literature about DoS, and for
researchers, clinicians, and family therapists using Bowen Theory as their
theoretical background for intervention and treatment. First, the confirm-
ation of the first and third hypotheses increases the empirical support for
Bowen’s hypothesis about the positive impact of higher DoS levels on mari-
tal adjustment and psychological well-being. Moreover, these findings
extend empirical support for Bowen’s universality statements to Turkish
culture, among a large list of cultural contexts where this hypothesis have
received empirical support. In addition, the confirmation of the mediation
244 E. IŞIK ET AL.

hypothesis introduces relevant new questions about how to explain the way
DoS confers benefits for psychological well-being (e.g., reductions in anx-
iety and depression, and improvements in life satisfaction).
It may be that the documented relationship of DoS on psychological well-
being, could be mediated by interpersonal processes, such as dyadic adjust-
ment. In other words, many possible mechanisms exist through which DoS
can affect psychological well-being (e.g., distress, anxiety, or happiness and
satisfaction with life), and the present study points out that the impact of
differentiation on an intrapersonal variable (i.e., self-perception of satisfac-
tion with life) could be mediated by a relational variable (i.e., marital adjust-
ment). Do other significant relationships, outside of intimate partners (e.g.,
parent-child relationships, family-of-origin relationships), similarly affect life
satisfaction, and are these relationships equally influenced by DoS? Further,
do communication patterns or communication about other intimate aspects
of relationships, for example, regarding sexual needs and preferences, also
mediate the relationship between differentiation and life satisfaction? Future
studies with longitudinal designs are needed to test these possibilities.
These findings are also important for the literature about DoS and the
Bowen theory because of their implications for cross-cultural validity. This
study represents the first time these hypotheses were tested in Turkish cul-
ture, and the significant confirmatory results, showing no significant differ-
ences among genders, support the universality of Bowen’s postulates.
Nevertheless, our findings should be replicated in other cultures as it is
possible that the mediation effect may be only applicable to the Turkish
cultural context. Future studies should test if the mediation effect is only
applicable to life satisfaction or if it also extends to other benchmarks of
psychological well-being. Finally, it is necessary to explore the cultural
applicably of Bowen’s theory when considering cultural areas, and not only
individual countries, for example, considering the European Mediterranean
area (including countries such as Turkey, Spain, Italy, Greece, or Cyprus).
Previous studies conducted with samples from the Mediterranean cultural
area showed the interpersonal dimension of DoS (i.e., emotional cutoff) as
the stronger predictor of marital adjustment levels (Lampis, Cataudella,
Agus, Busonera, & Skowron, 2018; Rodrıguez-Gonzalez et al., 2016), which
could suggest the interpersonal dimension of the DoS is most relevant in
this cultural region.

Limitations and future directions

When interpreting the findings from the current study several limitations
should be noted. First, data in this study are cross-sectional and thus tests
for mediation are not longitudinal and causality cannot be determined. It
could be that marital adjustment drives individual DoS levels over time or
 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FAMILY THERAPY 245

that life satisfaction drives marital adjustment. Longitudinal designs are

needed to assess the directionality of effects. This study was conducted
with a sample of heterosexual married individuals, where the average rela-
tionship length was 20.1 years. It could be that the relevance of marital
adjustment in the relationship between DoS and life satisfaction is relevant
only in this particular sample demographic. In understanding the family as
an emotional unit, the consolidation of a new emotional unity (e.g.,
through marriage and/or the time of cohabitation or relationship itself) is
theorized to drive toward a process where the intra-psychic and the inter-
personal processes are less distinguishable (Bowen, 1978). Future studies
should explore if a similar mediation effect emerges in individuals not in a
couple relationship, individuals who are not married, or in individuals with
shorter relational histories. Furthermore, future studies might consider
ways to measure both the intra and interpersonal processes in the couple
relationship to test whether each hold equivalent weight in contributing to
favorable life satisfaction outcomes. Such information would support clini-
cians and family therapists in identifying appropriate intervention targets.
Given these limitations and the small sample size of this study, replication
of findings are warranted, and the validity of findings could be extended by
investigations that take into account other culture groups, individuals not
in a couple relationship, individuals in briefer couple relationships, or in
individuals who differ demographically from this sample. In these exten-
sions, possible control variables that might have a potential confounding
effect on the link between DoS and well-being variables (e.g., personality
traits such as neuroticism) can also be included in the models.

Implications for practice and future directions

In the past ten years, there has been increasing emphasis on better describ-
ing how, for whom, and under what conditions interventions promote the
best outcomes for individuals and families (Craig et al., 2008). Results from
the present study provide valuable first steps in providing clinicians and
researchers with information about potential intervention targets to best
promote life satisfaction in married individuals. With the increase of fam-
ily-focused services in Turkey (Çarkoglu, Kafescioglu, & Mitrani, 2012), it
is increasingly important that intervention targets are identified to promote
best practices for clinicians. Cross-cultural studies are also needed to repli-
cate findings from the current study and to determine if similar relation-
ships hold for other cultural groups. Importantly, future studies might first
consider whether DoS is malleable given that DoS has been theorized to be
difficult to change over short periods of time (Kerr & Bowen, 1988, 2019).
Longitudinal designs are needed to test this proposition, and to assess
246 E. IŞIK ET AL.

whether changes in DoS confers benefits for couple’s marital adjustment,

with the ultimate goal of increasing satisfaction in life. Last, researchers
might consider comparing other relationship adjustment variables that
might explain the relationship between DoS and life satisfaction, for
example, aspects of family functioning or parent-child relationships.

Conclusion
Among the body of empirical studies exploring the role of differentiation
in relationships and well-being, two hypotheses have received strong empir-
ical support: (1) the positive relationship between higher DoS and better
psychological adjustment or well-being (implemented in a wide range of
variables) and, (2) the positive relationship between higher DoS and better
marital adjustment (e.g., lower marital conflict, or higher marital satisfac-
tion). Only recently have researchers tested the interactions among these
variables (DoS, marital relationship quality, and psychological well-being)
through statistical approaches which allow an integrated assessment
(Bartle-Haring, Ferriby, & Day, 2019; Rodrıguez-Gonzalez et al., 2019).
Taken together, the result of the present study demonstrate that differenti-
ation and marital adjustment are important to how Turkish couples report
life satisfaction. Moreover, the results identify marital adjustment as an
important potential mechanism in the transmission of DoS onto life satis-
faction. Additional longitudinal psychotherapy research is needed to test
the directionality of the DoS and marital adjustment relationship and to
determine whether interventions are able to shift these characteristics to
best promote life satisfaction for individuals seeking professional support.

ORCID
Erkan Işık http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0373-120X
€
Şerife Ozbiler http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3405-3077
Maria L. Schweer-Collins http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8285-9107
Marti~ no Rodrıguez-Gonzalez http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7117-0045

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