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Parent-In-Law Relationships
Parent-in-laws are often viewed as either a source of conflict or a source of support in a marriage relationship. Jealousy, competition, differences, and disillusioned expectations can cause conflict to arise in these relationships. Conflict with in-laws is more common for women than men. The perception of parent-in-laws as negative influences on your marriage leads to the characterization of female in-laws as particularly difficult. The stereotyped mother-in-law joke finds humor in the reality of conflict with in-laws. Positive influences have also been noted as in-laws can be a found family for partners/child-in-laws who are not as close to their own family.

People believe that negative relationships with in-laws will have a disastrous effect on the future of their marriage. However, the amount of connection to parent-in-laws has not been found to influence the success of their children’s marriage. The lack of marriage success may not fall on conflict in the parent-in-law relationship, but on whether the children-in-law are on the same page about conflicts. Thus, discordant perceptions exist between spouses and their perceptions of their relationships with their in-laws, and it is disagreements on those connections that negatively affect marriage outcomes.