Non-clinical couples' experiences of acceptance through tolerance in marriage: A phenomenological study

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how acceptance through tolerance was experienced in non-clinical heterosexual couples who reported marital satisfaction. The definition of acceptance through tolerance is tolerating what you regard as an unpleasant behavior of your partner and understanding the deeper meaning of this behavior, appreciating the value and importance of this behavior to your relationship (Christensen, Doss & Jacobson, 2014). The heterosexual couples that reported marital satisfaction in this study seemed to be able to experience the difficulties and differences in their relationships with an accepting tolerance without any therapeutic intervention. However, in the clinical setting, integrative behavioral couples' therapy (IBCT) uses interventions to help clinical couples achieve an accepting understanding through tolerance. In this study, interviews were conducted with nine heterosexual couples who reported having high marital satisfaction without clinical intervention. The experience of acceptance through tolerance was researched to help understand how this phenomenon occurs naturally in heterosexual couples. The couple's interview data was analyzed using Moustakas' (1994) transcendental phenomenological approach. The interview data from all the couples was extensively reviewed and coded using textural and structural descriptions. This coding was to find and describe the areas where the phenomenon of acceptance through tolerance was present. From these findings, the understanding of how acceptance through tolerance was experienced by these non-clinical couples was discussed. This discussion will add to the body of literature that exists on marital satisfaction and to the field of marriage and family therapy.