Perceived collaborative decision-making and satisfaction with shared leisure decisions: A Bayesian Actor-Partner Interdependence analysis of young adult couples in Indonesia

How perceived collaborative quality of shared leisure decisions relates to process-level satisfaction remains underexplored. This study examined associations between perceived collaborative decision-making and leisure decision satisfaction (the joint decision process evaluated as fair, inclusive, and mutually considerate) among 74 heterosexual couples in Indonesia (n = 148). Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model with Bayesian estimation, both partners showed credible actor effects, with greater perceived collaboration associated with higher leisure decision satisfaction. Partner effects were asymmetric, with women’s perceived collaboration significantly associated with men’s satisfaction while men’s showed no credible association. Perceived collaborative decision-making accounted for more variance in men’s satisfaction than in women’s, suggesting that women’s process evaluations reflect broader relational determinants. These findings advance a process-oriented, gendered account of couple leisure with implications for how, not only what, couples negotiate in relationship education contexts.