Network Approach to Understanding of Needs Fulfillment: Examining How Couple’s Needs Fulfillment Interacts and Changes During the Newlywed Years

Needs fulfillment provides a deep insight into the motivational underpinnings of marital relationships. However, previous studies have primarily viewed needs fulfillment as a static and merged construct, failing to capture its interrelated and dyadic structure. Based on 277 Chinese newlywed couples, this study used network approach to investigate the structure of couples’ needs fulfillment network and its interplay with marital function during the first year of marriage. Results indicate that personal and relationship needs fulfillment are two hallmark features of couples’ needs fulfillment structures. Despite relatively weak associations between husbands’ and wives’ needs fulfillment, the clustering patterns of their needs fulfillment exhibit notable similarity. Security and caregiving needs fulfillment exhibited high centrality and were more strongly associated with marital functions. In contrast, companionship needs fulfillment demonstrated low centrality and weaker associations with marital functions, implying that examining the role of needs fulfillment at the level of specific needs is necessary.