Generosity and the Maintenance of Marital Quality

This study examined whether generosity in marriage was associated with marital quality. The authors conceptualized generosity as a type of relationship maintenance behavior and used data from the new Survey of Marital Generosity (a national survey of married couples, N = 1,365 couples and 2,730 total participants). They found that generosity—defined here as small acts of kindness, displays of respect and affection, and a willingness to forgive one's spouse his or her faults and failings—was positively associated with marital satisfaction and negatively associated with marital conflict and perceived divorce likelihood.     

Effects of Love Styles on Marital Satisfaction in Heterosexual Couples: A Dyadic Approach

The main objective of this study was to test Actor-Partner Interdependence Models (APIM) describing the relationship between wives' and husbands' love styles and marital satisfaction within heterosexual couples (n=146 couples). Love styles (i.e., Eros, Ludus, Storge, Mania, Pragma, Agape) were set out in Lee's theory of love, which defines love as an attitude, meaning a predisposition to think, feel, and behave toward one's partner. Six APIMs representing each love style were tested using a path analysis procedure. Length of marriage and wives' and husbands' depressive moods were entered into the models as control variables. The results revealed that among the love styles, only Eros contributed to marital satisfaction for both men and women. However, our results showed that wives' Eros style had a positive impact on husbands' marital satisfaction, whereas husbands' Eros style did not influence wives' marital satisfaction.     

Premarital Sex,Premarital Cohabitation,and the Risk of Subsequent Marital Dissolution Among Women

Using nationally representative data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, I estimate the association between intimate premarital relationships (premarital sex and premarital cohabitation) and subsequent marital dissolution. I extend previous research by considering relationship histories pertaining to both premarital sex and premarital cohabitation. I find that premarital sex or premarital cohabitation that is limited to a woman's husband is not associated with an elevated risk of marital disruption. However, women who have more than one intimate premarital relationship have an increased risk of marital dissolution. These results suggest that neither premarital sex nor premarital cohabitation by itself indicate either preexisting characteristics or subsequent relationship environments that weaken marriages. Indeed, the findings are consistent with the notion that premarital sex and cohabitation limited to one's future spouse has become part of the normal courtship process for marriage.     

Understanding the Decision to Marry Versus Cohabit: The Role of Interpersonal Dedication and Constraints and the Impact on Life Satisfaction

The current study explored men's and women's reasons for choosing to marry rather than to cohabit using a national data set (n = 786) of adults who were currently married or had been married previously. Using commitment theory participant's open-ended reasons for choosing to marry were coded into categories of either interpersonal dedication or constraint commitment. A variety of demographic, attitudinal, and relationship history variables were then used to predict commitment type. The influence of commitment type during the decision to marry on life satisfaction was also explored. Results indicate that current marital status (being married vs. being divorced or separated) and cohabiting before marriage were the strongest predictors of interpersonal dedication reasons for marriage for both men and women. Level of conventionality and parents' marital status also emerged as significant predictors of constraint commitment. Finally, marrying for reasons related to interpersonal dedication significantly predicted higher life satisfaction for men but not for women.     

African American and European American Women's Marital Well‐Being

Using a sample of 247 African American and European American women in their 3rd year of marriage, this study compared the predictors of marital well‐being for each group by focusing on the influences of individual, interpersonal, and social and economic resources. Regression analyses revealed that emotional health (individual), trusting one's spouse (interpersonal), and feeling underbenefited in the relationship (interpersonal) were significant predictors of marital well‐being for both groups of women. Physical health (individual) and in‐law relations (social and economic), however, affected the marital well‐being of only African American women. Findings from this study suggest the need to examine marital well‐being within the context of race.     

Extramarital Sex Among Vietnamese Married Men: Results of a Survey in Urban and Rural Areas of Northern and Southern Vietnam

Research on extramarital sex (EMS) is commonly conducted from a perspective that implicitly understands this behavior as a violation of the marital relationship. In contrast, Vietnamese cultural norms have, at some points in history, condoned if not outright encouraged EMS in the name of preserving family lineage. Yet little is known about the prevalence of EMS among contemporary Vietnamese men and its association with marriage quality. This is a notable gap, given the enormous sociocultural and ideological shifts the country has experienced over the past several decades. Drawing upon a sample of 126 married men (Mean age = 45.56; SD = 10.52) surveyed in urban (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) and rural areas (Ha Tay and Can Tho) in Vietnam, we examined the relationship between EMS and geographic region, demographic characteristics, sexual values, quality of marriage, and sexual satisfaction within marriage. Our results show that geographic location had a strong impact on EMS, while most marital relationship quality variables did not impact the odds of EMS for married men in Vietnam.     

Own‐Choice Marriage and Fertility in Turkey

Goode's foundational work on the fertility transition identified own‐choice marriage as a factor driving fertility decline, part of a widening repertoire of choice pertaining to marriage and childbearing. Yet research supporting this connection in today's transitional societies is scarce and somewhat contradictory, and it is unclear how other marital traditions, such as consanguineous marriage, shape this relationship. This study evaluates Goode's theorized connection using pooled Demographic and Health Survey data from Turkey, comparing children ever born, use of contraception, and parity progression across four types of marriage: own‐choice and arranged marriage and marriage to a cousin versus an unrelated spouse. Results are largely consistent with the idea that a move toward own‐choice marriage reflects a widening repertoire of choice that also leads to fertility decline. However, they also show that hybrid models like own‐choice marriage to a cousin tempers these effects.     

Attitudes Toward Marriage and Divorce Held by Young Adults

This experiment investigated current attitudes about marriage and divorce held by young adults. One-hundred-four female and 84 male college students participated in the study. The mean age of the subjects was 23. The experiment was a 2 X 2 x 2 X 2 between subject factorial design. There were three independent variables: work- aholic/chealing spouse, two childredno children, and husband/wife as stimulus person. There was one predictor variable: sex of the subject. Subjects read onc of eight scenarios and answered questions relating to it. Subjects were asked to rate on a six-point Likert scale whether the scenario couple should seek a divorce or stay in the marriage. The subjects were also asked to choose one of four possible solutions for the future of the marriage. Survey questions included demographics, marital status of subjects' parents, questions concerning the subjects' marriage (if married) and their attitudes toward marriage. A four-way ANOVA was performed on each of the dependent variables. There were no sigruticant results for sex of the stimulus person or sex of the subject. The most significant variable was cheating/workaholic spouse. The results indicate that parental marital slalus does not have a sign& cant effcct on the attitudes of the adult children regarding marriage and divorce. Overall, responses indicated positive attitudes about marriage and commitment.     

What are you thinking? Acculturation as an activating event for negative evaluative beliefs among Latinos/as

Negative evaluative beliefs and other cognitive structures have been tied to psychological distress across various populations but have not been sufficiently incorporated into acculturation models. The current study examines the relationships between acculturation and various activating events and mediating sources of support related to negative evaluative beliefs among people of Mexican descent (N = 319). Overall, model variables explained 26% of the variance in negative evaluative beliefs. Acculturation, marital commitment, and social capital associated with friends were negatively related to negative evaluative beliefs. Conversely, single relationship status, marital reward value, psychosocial stressors, and bridging social capital were positively related, and likely serve as activating events for negative evaluative beliefs. Identifying mechanisms related to psychological distress as well as supportive structures may help in constructing interventions that will address the specific needs of different groups. Future research should continue to explore appraisal and associated beliefs in acculturation models to understand why acculturative experiences may become stressful.     

Marital Satisfaction and Marital Stability*

This exploration of the relationship between marital satisfaction and marital stability utilizes the social-psychological schema of Thibaut and Kelley (1959). Marital satisfaction is viewed as a function of the comparison between one's marital expectations and one's marital outcome. Marital stability is viewed as a function of the comparison between one's best available marital alternative and one's marital outcome. Hence, marital satisfaction and marital stability can differ. Implications of this view for both researcher and clinician are discussed.     

Do Spousal Discrepancies in Marital Quality Assessments Affect Psychological Adjustment to Widowhood?

We use prospective couple‐level data from the Changing Lives of Older Couples to assess the extent to which spouses concur in their assessments of marital quality (N = 844) and whether discrepancies in spouses' marital assessments affect the bereaved spouse's psychological adjustment 6 months after loss (n = 105). Spouses' assessments of marital quality are correlated modestly (r = .45), with women offering less positive assessments. Bereaved persons who had rated their marriages more positively than their spouse at the preloss interview reported higher levels of anger 6 months postloss. We conclude that persons who offer more positive appraisals of their marriages than their spouse may view spousal loss as a particularly unjust event. We discuss implications for understanding late life marriage and spousal bereavement.     

Marital separation and extramarital sexual behavior

The factors related to the occurrence of extramarital coitus (EMC) among persons whose marriages terminate in separation or divorce and the impact of participation in EMC on postmarital adjustment were examined. It was hypothesized that premarital coital experience, quality of marital sex, length of marriage, religiosity, and physical attractiveness would affect the occurrence of EMC. Additionally, tests were performed to assess whether participation in EMC increased, decreased, or had no effect on postmarital adjustment. The data are from a study of 205 individuals, separated no longer than 26 months, who completed in‐depth, face‐to‐face interviews about their marriage, its failure, and its aftermath. Most respondents who experienced EMC report that it was an effect, rather than a cause, of marital problems. Yet respondents tend to report that their spouse's infidelity was a cause of marital problems. Guilt is a significant by‐product of EMC for men and women, but men experience somewhat less guilt. Guilt is inversely related to satisfaction with EMC. Women report a significantly greater emotional involvement with their extramarital partners than men. Females who blamed their spouse or another person for the breakup of their marriage were significantly less likely to have had EMC, but no such relationship was found among males. Religiosity does not predict EMC, but among those who have had EMC, religiosity is positively related to how long after marriage EMC first occurred. There is no relationship between the presence or absence of EMC and marital quality at time of separation. Furthermore, EMC does not appear to be related to postmarital adjustment. Other variables such as marital quality, lifestyle attitudes, perceived consequences of EMC, perceived responsibility for family members, and perception of opportunity to engage in EMC need to be studied to further elucidate the occurrence of extramarital relationships.     

Gender and marital satisfaction early in marriage: A growth curve approach

The purpose of this study is to assess differences between husbands and wives (N= 526 couples at the first assessment) on (a) growth curves over the first 4 years of marriage for psychological distress, marriage‐specific appraisals, spousal interactions, social support, and marital satisfaction; (b) the strength of intraspouse links and cross‐spouse links involving the initial assessment of the first four variables and the growth curve for marital satisfaction; and (c) differences between spouses headed for divorce versus spouses in stable marriages on the growth curves for all five variables. On the basis of evidence that interspouse differences were largely nonsignificant, there was little support for the view that there are his and her versions of the processes that affect marital outcomes.     

Editor's Comments

There are two purposes of this marriage education marketing study: (1) to compare the self-reported intra- and interpersonal qualities of 121 married couples (n = 242 individuals) attending a marriage education program with 46 married couples (n = 92 individuals) who were contacted through marketing promotional materials to attend the program but did not participate and (2) to determine if intra- and/or interpersonal qualities would predict the likelihood of marriage education attendance versus nonattendance. Results showed that compared with program nonparticipants, program participants reported lower levels of self-esteem, marital communication quality, marital commitment, marital satisfaction, family strengths, less consensus and intimacy, less fulfillment of marriage expectations, and increased levels of marital conflict. Levels of religiosity and fusion were the same for participants and nonparticipants. Wald logistic regression analysis indicated communication was the only significant predictor of marriage education participation. Implications for marriage education programming and practitioners are outlined.     

Nonmarital Relationships and Changing Perceptions of Marriage Among African American Young Adults

Cohabitation has become increasingly widespread over the past decade. Such trends have given rise to debates about the relation between cohabitation and marriage in terms of what cohabitation means for individual relationship trajectories and for the institution of marriage more generally. Using recent data from a sample of almost 800 African Americans and fixed effects modeling procedures, in the present study the authors shed some light on these debates by exploring the extent to which cohabitation, relative to both singlehood and dating, was associated with within‐individual changes in African Americans' marital beliefs during the transition to adulthood. The findings suggest that cohabitation is associated with changes in marital beliefs, generally in ways that repositioned partners toward marriage, not away from it. This was especially the case for women. These findings suggest that, for young African American women, cohabitation holds a distinct place relative to dating and, in principle if not practice, relative to marriage.     

Marital Homeostasis and Spouse-Aided Therapy in Persisting Psychological Disorders

The concept of marital homeostasis is introduced to help explain the persistence of psychological disability in many married people. The symptoms of the designated patient are seen as often having a protective effect on the psychological adjustment of the ostensibly healthy marriage partner. Spouse-aided Therapy is introduced as a goal-oriented, time-limited out-patient approach designed to enable the patient's spouse to acknowledge and relinquish his contribution to the patient's continuing disability. This is followed by changes in marital interaction which facilitate the patient's symptomatic improvement.     

Jealousy and Couple Satisfaction: A Romantic Attachment Perspective

The overarching objective of this study was to examine a novel model investigating romantic attachment as a moderator of the relation between an individual's jealousy or an individual's perception of his or her partner's jealousy and one's couple satisfaction. The sample comprised of 502 university students currently involved in a relationship of at least 12 months. An original and comprehensive model concurrently investigating emotional, cognitive, and behavioral facets of jealousy was used. The implementation of hierarchical models revealed that cognitive jealousy was negatively associated with couple satisfaction, whereas emotional jealousy demonstrated a positive association; behavioral jealousy did not add incremental value in one's couple satisfaction. Results were applicable to both one's own and one's perception of his or her partner's jealousy for each respective facet. Cognitive jealousy was demonstrated to explain the greatest variance in one's couple satisfaction. Findings also revealed romantic attachment as a moderator of the relation between certain facets of jealousy and couple satisfaction, with attachment anxiety and avoidance leading to a strengthened or weakened relation, respectively. As such, results suggest that the negative and positive consequences of jealousy on couple satisfaction may be exacerbated among those exhibiting higher attachment anxiety. The applied and clinical implications of all findings are discussed.     

Marital Aspirations,Sexual Behaviors,and HIV/AIDS in Rural Malawi

We explore how marital aspirations are related to the sexual behaviors of adolescents and young adults in Malawi, where HIV/AIDS prevalence among adults exceeds 10%. We also consider whether the specter of AIDS is shaping ideals about marriage. By combining survey data (N = 1,087) and in‐depth interviews (N = 133) with young Malawians from the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project, we show that looking for and finding a suitable spouse are linked to sexual behaviors and, thus, HIV risks. Moreover, concerns about contracting HIV are closely tied to the ideal characteristics of a future spouse. Our findings draw long‐overdue attention to the importance of marital aspirations in understanding adolescent sexual behaviors and risks in the era of AIDS.     

Is relationship and marriage education relevant and appropriate to child welfare?

Child welfare professionals (CWPs) have historically been ignored as a potential delivery system of relationship and marriage education (RME). Based on a sample of 1015 CWPs from two states, the current study shows that CWPs believe promoting healthy couple and marital relationships is relevant to the families they serve and their work, and that they are open to receiving RME training. Results from structural equation modeling indicate that CWPs' beliefs about the relevancy and appropriateness of RME may be influenced by their current RME ability and comfort level, their beliefs about the state of marriage and the prevalence of couples in their current caseload of families they serve. Implications related to promoting RME within child welfare and engaging CWPs in RME training are discussed.     

EFFECTS OF SPOUSE PRESENCE DURING THE INTERVIEW ON SURVEY RESPONSES CONCERNING MARRIAGE

Data from the 1987–88 National Survey of Families andHouseholds were used to examine the correlates of spouse presenceduring face-to-face interviews and the impact of spouse presenceon responses to sensitive questions concerning marriage. Resultssuggest that variation in interview privacy can be a sourceof response effects in survey data on marriage. When spouseswere present during the interview, subjective assessments ofthe utility of marriage were more positive, higher estimatesof spouse contributions to housework were obtained, and mengave lower estimates of the likelihood of marital dissolution.There was some indication that spouse presence led to a greaterwillingness to report sensitive factual information concerningthe marriage. Respondents were more likely to report cohabitingwith the spouse before marriage if the spouse was present, andself-reported levels of marital conflict were higher. Implicationsof these findings for survey design are discussed.