Recently, research has been conducted using an interactional understanding of depression, which views depression as a disorder exacerbated by a pathogenic social system. The interaction between intimate social partners seems especially relevant. Couples (N=26) participated in a study of depressed out-patients and their spouses and a matched…

It has often been suggested that knowledge of the underlying power sturcture is essential to understanding the day-to-day functioning of the nuclear family and that such knowledge may be of special relevance for understanding violence between husbands and wives. To explore the relationship of the family power structure (e.g., wife-dominant,…

Previous research on marriage indicates that perceptions of control are important to marital satisfaction. To investigate the relationship between attributions of personal control and other variables in marriage, e.g., measures of satisfaction, decision making, and task performance, and attributions of control over decisions and tasks, and to…

Home-career conflict may exist in varying degrees for both spouses in a dual-career couple. Home-career conflict exists when a dual-career wife values both homemaking and career and views some aspects of these two roles as incompatible. Home-career conflict results when a dual-career husband values his own career and that of his wife, but is…

Characteristics of the relationship between female, upper-level, university administrators and their husbands were surveyed to determine if the husbands served as mentors. It is hypothesized that spousal mentoring occurs for this group and that their relationship is similar to phases of nonspousal mentoring among successful, female corporate…

Shostrom (1971) has identified a type of marriage in which self-actualizing couples do not simply accept their socially defined roles, but instead develop personality traits and values that are consistent with their own psychological health and that of the couple relationship. Antill (1983) found evidence for the importance of high scores in…

Recent investigations of marital interaction have concentrated on the process of communication while discussing issues of conflict within the relationship. Few studies have been designed to assess emotional communication among married couples. To determine emotional interaction by examining the overall distribution and sequencing of emotional…

Evidence suggests that important gender differences may influence both the decision to divorce and the nature of the life crisis which is precipitated. Recently divorced male and female subjects (N=30) who were childless, between ages 25-35, and married between 2-10 years, were interviewed and completed questionnaires. Results indicated that…

Although some people fantasize about their spouse's possible death, the literature contains no reports of research on widowhood fantasies. The incidence, characteristics, and possible function of these fantasies were examined in individual interviews with 28 divorced and married men and women. Interview data were analyzed by calculating chi-square…

This is a description of a workshop focusing on the couple in the remarried family, and stressing the development of a balanced, effectively working family system. The workshop content, which functions through didactic presentations, leader-led exercises, group interactions and homework, addresses the following topics: (1) communication…

In Nigeria, various forms of polygamy and monogamy are practiced; however, monogamy is more or less practiced by many Christians and a greater percentage of younger men. A survey of marital success and failure was conducted with samples of Nigerian Diploma students and selected educated community members. Subjects completed two instruments, the…

Interpersonal interaction in intimate relationships must be viewed as a function of the context within which it occurs. A contextual model of interaction was studied along the dimensions of conflict and intimacy. Subjects were married couples, who individually discussed conflict and nonconflict issues of high-level or low-level intimacy. Patterns…

A major problem in the study of marital interaction has been the lack of attention to contextual determinants of differences within couples' behavioral exchanges. To compare spouses' control behaviors in overt and ongoing communication as a function of both conflict and intimacy situational contexts, and to analyze the influence of spouse's role,…

This report: (1) validates results of a previous survey of attitudes of wives of Navy enlisted personnel designed to determine impact of Navy use in dissemination of pertinent information to enlisted men's wives early in their association with the Navy. Survey data in this study were analyzed on the basis of wives' willingness for their husbands…

Behavioral and perceptual differences among maritally distressed and nondistressed husbands and wives were investigated. Distressed couples beginning marital therapy and nondistressed couples solicited through community newspapers comprised the criterion groups which were matched for major demographic variables. Couples first enacted and then…