Partner support behaviors and relationship quality in interracial and intraracial Black romantic relationships

Abstract

A convergent, mixed‐methods design was used to understand associations between partner behaviors and relationship quality among people in interracial and intraracial romantic relationships. Across two samples, 224 individuals (including 55 couples) who were in a relationship in which they and/or their partner identified as Black completed measures of perceived partner responsiveness, partner responses to stress, and relationship quality. Participants in the first sample also provided open‐ended responses about the role of race in their relationship. Participants who reported higher partner responsiveness, more supportive partner responses to their stress, better overall dyadic coping, and fewer unsupportive partner responses to their stress reported higher relationship quality. The strength of the associations for perceived partner responsiveness and partner responses to stress with relationship quality did not differ based on the racial composition of the relationship. Qualitative responses revealed additional support processes and barriers to support that may be unique to different relationship compositions. These findings expand understanding of the most effective support behaviors that Black individuals and their romantic partners use in their relationships and illuminate how support processes might differ depending on an individual's race and the race of their partner.