Firefighters and Spouses: Hostility, Satisfaction, and Conflict

Abstract

The present project contributes to the literature on firefighters and spousal relationships through consideration of life satisfaction, marital satisfaction, and couple conflict for a sample of Canadian firefighters. Thirty four firefighter/spouse dyads completed measures of satisfaction, mental health, and conflict. Our results showed that firefighters self-reported more hostility than their spouses, but that there was no significant difference between firefighters and spouses with respect to life of marital satisfaction. Firefighters and spouses also differed in expression of dissatisfaction, in that firefighters were more likely to express dissatisfaction through physical or indirect expressions of aggression, and spouses were more likely to express dissatisfaction through anger. Understanding alternative presentations of dissatisfaction may be helpful to both the spousal couple, in terms of understanding one another, and also in therapeutic relationships where emotional expression may be interpreted.