PERCEPTIONS OF MARRIAGE AND RATIONALITY BY LEVELS OF PERCEIVED HEALTH IN THE FAMILY OF ORIGIN*

The family therapy field has witnessed a beneficial dedication to the study of the transmission of pathology (Mueller & Pope, 1977). Of late however, there is a concern that pathology has been overly stressed (Stachowiak, 1975). It is perhaps with this overemphasis in mind, and that the absence of pathology does not necessarily equal health (Kleiman, 1981), that researchers have recently pursued the study of family health (Olson, Russell & Sprenkle, 1983; Walsh, 1982). The concept of family health has particular significance when considering the family of origin. Bowen (1978) and Framo (1981), in particular, have described the transmission of pathology from one generation to the next. It is less clear, however, whether health follows a similar transmission process, although the notion seems appealingly logical. Anderson (1981) pointed to the dearth of investigations studying the consequences of health in the family of origin and offspring characteristics. This study addresses these concerns by investigating the extent to which subjects' rational thinking and perceptions of marriage are associated with their level of perceived health in their families of origin.