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Examining the role of emotional support equity in marital relationships in later life: Findings from the National Study of Daily Experiences.

Po-Heng Chen,S. Han,M. Gleason,Hannah C. Williamson

Published 2025 in Journal of family psychology

ABSTRACT

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. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

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