Browsing by Subject "Marriage -- Psychological aspects"
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Item A longitudinal examination of the relationship between selected gender role variables and marital quality(Texas Tech University, 1989-08) Hood, C. JeffersonThe purpose of the study was to examine longitudinally the relationship between two gender-role orientation variables (gender-role attitude and gender-role identity) and marital quality. This research was a replication of recent research which has found that the more egalitarian the husband is with respect to the wife, the higher the marital quality of each spouse and other research which has found that femininity is positively associated with the level of marital quality of each spouse. In addition to same-time analyses, these relationships were examined longitudinally. The theoretical model used was Social Exchange Theory. The focus of this theory on the roles which marital partners develop as they join in a relationship with one another made it especially applicable to this study. Findings of the study were based on a sample of 35 couples who had been married an average of a little over a year and a half, most of whom did not have children. Length of marriage and presence or absence of children were identified as covariates in the preliminary analyses. Partial correlations were used to test the hypotheses. At time one, the relationship between femininity of the wife and level of marital quality of the husband was positive and significant, confirming the first hypothesis. AH other hypotheses were not confirmed. Additional analyses were undertaken to identify a discriminant procedure which could classify spouses as to whether they were more satisfied or less satisfied as to their marital quality. Eight variables (masculinity, femininity, spouse masculinity. Spouse femininity, total income, length of marriage, and the score on the Marital Roles Attitude Scale) and presence of children were able to correctly classify couples about 7096 of the time. Implications of this procedure are discussed.Item Cognitive and behavioral aspects of marital conflict: a test of a constructivist model(Texas Tech University, 1987-05) Blume, Thomas WylieIncreased attention is being given to marital conflict. However, much intervention is based on conflict theory and research which does not address the special characteristics of conflict in intimate relationships. This study is a partial test of a new, constructivist theoretical model of marital conflict. Marital partners' uniquely organized sets of cognitive constructs are seen as mediating their present interaction and, through a feedback cycle, becoming reciprocally altered over time. Thirty volunteer married couples completed a two-part conflict history questionnaire and a newly developed dyadic conflict version of the Role Construct Repertory Test, and were observed discussing a current disagreement. Data included measures of spouses' cognitive complexity and organization; observed Interpersonal Negotiation Strategies; self-reported constructive engagement of conflict; and satisfaction with conflict management. Findings failed to support several aspects of the theoretical model. Cognitive complexity and organization and cognitive similarity were not significantly related to either observed negotiating level or similarity of negotiating level, and neither negotiating level nor negotiating similarity was related to constructive engagement. As predicted, however, satisfaction with conflict management was significantly related to constructive engagement. Results differed by sex, with fewer significant findings for wives. Husbands' cognitive organization was positively related to negotiating level, while husbands' cognitive complexity was negatively related to constructive engagement. A significant positive relationship between age and negotiating level was found. Sampling and measurement refinements are proposed for future tests of the theoretical model. Further research is suggested to investigate possible age and gender-role influences on the relationships between cognitions and conflict behavior.Item Cognitive, affective, and behavioral correlates of relationship satisfaction and commitment: a test of the investment model(Texas Tech University, 2001-05) Dowd, Duane AlanThis study examined the relationships between individual characteristics and components of the Investment Model. More-specifically, associations between cognitive (attributions and distressed partner thinking), affective (empathy and optimism), and behavioral (positive and negative socioemotional behaviors) factors and Investment Model components (rewards, costs, comparison level, alternatives, investments, and barriers) were tested. This study also examined whether the relationship between individual characteristics and marital quality (satisfaction and commitment) was mediated by the Investment Model components. A community sample of 226 married individuals completed questionnaires which assessed these individual characteristics, the Investment Model components and relationship quality. Factor analysis on the Investment Model components revealed a three factor solution that represented relationship benefits, detriments and hindrances. Benefits were negatively related to attributions, and positively related to optimism (for women) and positive behaviors (for men). Detriments r were positively related to attributions and to distressed partner thinking (for women), and negatively related to empathic concern (for women) and to positive behaviors (for men). Hindrances were positively related to empathic concern and to negative behaviors (for women). Regression analysis indicated that the relationship between (a) attributions and quality was fully mediated for men and women and (b) empathic concern and quality was partially mediated for men by the Investment Model factors. This research provided overall support for the mediational role of the Investment Model components, and suggested future directions for relationship research.Item Ecological congruence: evaluating the assessment of marital quality and communication(Texas Tech University, 1987-05) Dennis, Maribeth BatesNot availableItem Examining marital power through intergenerational lenses(Texas Tech University, 1993-05) Winn, Krista IAs of yet, no research has utilized family therapy intergenerational theory to investigate marital power by probing into partner's perceptions that reflect their beginnings—family-of-origin. The purpose of this study was to use a family therapy perspective to study marital power. Self-administered surveys were completed by employees (ii=436) of Texas Tech University in order to determine the relationship between key family-of-origin variables and marital interaction styles that reflect power equality/inequality. On the whole, the results revealed support for the hypotheses indicating that individuals who reported power equality in their marriages also reported higher scores on family-of-origin measures than those individuals who reported power inequality. In addition, those individuals with higher scores on the family-of-origin measures reported more cognitive flexibility than individuals with lower scores on the family-of-origin measures. Overall, this study found significant associations between intergenerational dynamics and marital power dynamics. It also examined power in a way that incorporated more "microlevel" communication issues that are more central to women's concerns as opposed to solely utilizing traditional "macrolevel" power measures.Item Marital quality over the life course: a hierarchical linear model of duration and cohort effects(Texas Tech University, 2002-12) English, Sara MartinConsiderable debate over the trajectory of marital quality over the marital course has encamped into two major schools of thought: U-shaped or linear decline. Access to longitudinal data that extends into the later years of marriage and analytical techniques that allow tracking of changes in marital quality is often cited as a remedy for the limitations that plague much of this research. The sample, from the UCLA 1971-1997 Longitudinal Study of Generations, consisted of six waves of data on marital quality from three separate historical cohorts in intact, first marriages. Analyses were conducted using hierarchical linear modeling, a technique particularly suited for analyzing change across time in panel data, to determine duration and cohort effects on marital quality in marriages ranging from one to 69 years. The cohort married during the years 1945-1954 exhibited the familiar U-curve of both positive and negative marital quality. Results for the youngest cohort, married between 1964 and 1984, replicated similar research for a linear decline in positive marital quality and an increase in negative marital quality. While cohort effects were inconsistent, this study, unlike other longitudinal studies, replicated the U-shaped curve of marital quality found in previous cross-sectional studies in a cohort followed from the third through fifth decades of marriage.Item Relationships between couple self-reports and observational coding with the Georgia Marriage Q-Sort(Texas Tech University, 2002-08) Ro, Hye-SunNot available