Figure 2.

Satisfaction moderates spousal convergence in cortisol levels during conflict over 1.5 years. We found no general convergence in spouses’ cortisol levels during the conflict discussions from lab visit 1 (about 6 months into their marriage) to lab visit 2 (about 2 years into their marriage), but did find that relationship satisfaction at 6 months moderated spousal convergence in acute cortisol levels during conflict. Simple slopes analyses were conducted for each quartile of couples, from lowest to highest satisfied couples. As in many studies of newlywed couples, satisfaction reports were quite high on average (M = 42.5 on a scale of 0–50). Still, there was variability in satisfaction. The “Lowest” quartile of couples had satisfaction values ranging from 29.5 to 40, indicating at least some dissatisfaction in their relationship. Couples in the upper three quartiles had satisfaction ratings above 40. The ranges for these quartiles were as follows: “Low-Mid” satisfaction scores ranged from 40.5 to 42.5, “High-Mid” satisfaction scores from 43 to 44.5, and “Highest” satisfaction scores from 45 to 49. Results showed that only the lowest satisfaction quartile of couples showed significant convergence in acute conflict cortisol levels over time (solid line), γ = −.100, p =.027. Convergence slopes for all other satisfaction levels (i.e., above the 25^th percentile) were not significantly different from zero.