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Category: Project

Description: It is often assumed that partnership quality is positively associated with the amount of time couples and families spend together. However, little about this link has been demonstrated empirically. This study investigates how time spent with the partners, children, parents, siblings, friends, and acquaintances is associated with partnership conflicts and partnership satisfaction. A time-use module was set up as part of a longitudinal survey about family relations and conflicts in Switzerland. The results show a robust association between partnership quality, time shared with the partner, and time shared with the partner and children. Results show that the more time couples spend together, the more likely they are to experience high partnership quality and to report being satisfied with their relationships. Partners who are satisfied with their relationships are more prone to talk to each other, to share leisure time, and to go to bed together. In contrast, time spent with friends and kin is not associated with partnership quality.