Examining the Role of Emotional Support Equity in Marital Relationships in Later Life

Findings From the National Study of Daily Experiences

Chen, Po-Heng
Han, Sae Hwang
Gleason, Marci E. J.
Williamson, Hannah C.

Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas, Austin

Arin M. Connell served as action editor.

The hypotheses and analyses presented in this article were not preregistered. Data are available through the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan (Grant ICPSR #38529). Data analytic process can be found on the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/58eq3/. Portions of the results of this research were presented at the biennial conference of the International Association for Relationship Research in July 2024. The authors have no known conflicts of interest to disclose.

Po-Heng Chen played a lead role in conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, methodology, software, visualization, and writing–original draft and an equal role in project administration. Sae Hwang Han played a supporting role in formal analysis, methodology, software, supervision, and writing–review and editing. Marci E. J. Gleason played a supporting role in conceptualization, formal analysis, methodology, validation, visualization, and writing–review and editing. Hannah C. Williamson played a lead role in supervision and writing–review and editing, a supporting role in formal analysis, methodology, validation, and visualization, and an equal role in project administration.

Po-Heng Chen, Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas, Austin, 108 East Dean Keeton Street, Sarah M. and Charles E. Seay Building 1.142A, Austin, TX 78712, United States [email protected]

Received October 28, 2024

revised April 8, 2025

Accepted April 8, 2025

Journal of Family Psychology 39(5):p 710-716, August 2025. | DOI: 10.1037/fam0001354

The experience of receiving and/or providing emotional support to one’s spouse is a common occurrence among older couples. While previous research indicates that receiving emotional support can paradoxically elevate negative mood, achieving supportive equity—where both partners reciprocally exchange emotional support—mitigates these negative effects and is associated with better well-being. To date, this buffering effect of support equity has been documented among younger couples but remains underresearched among older populations. The present study uses data from the National Study of Daily Experiences, an 8-day daily diary study (N = 672 married individuals), to examine the impact of supportive equity on negative affect in middle-aged and older adults. Results indicate that emotional support equity is associated with decreased negative affect for older adults compared with middle-aged adults, highlighting the benefit of supportive equity for older adults and the need for more research on middle-aged adults.