Findings suggest that older couples, those married longer, those among whom at least one spouse has an established career, and those who are freed from childrearing responsibilities find the lifestyle less stressful. Also, women may be more comfortable with the arrangement because of the recognition of their rights. (Author)

The sequence of planning was the same for all groups and included a resource-planning stage followed by a relationship-planning stage. Retirement programs for rural couples should focus on those in their forties and should involve both spouses and family members. (Author/JAC)

This investigation of married student couples found significant relationships between marital adjustment and people-oriented and success-oriented values systems for individual spouses. Congruency of values systems and marital adjustment for couple units was not found. (Author)

Marriages of respondents that ended in divorce were not as good as marriages of other couples they had known nor did the marriage meet expectations held prior to entering into the relationship. The most frequent problem was unfaithfulness. (Author)

Androgynous husbands used fewer last-resort, dependency and authoritative, and more give-up means of influence. Androgynous wives tended to use significantly less give-up, accommodative, dependency and authoritative means. Different sex-role types will differ in the use of means of influence. (Author)

Men and women were surveyed to discover how social competence affects the marital relationship, using measures of social self-esteem, interpersonal efficacy, judgmental ability, need for dominance, and liking people. Marital adjustment was related to self-perceived social competence. (CT)

A letter sent to Franklin Roosevelt complains about the employment of married women whose husbands are also employed. The letter suggests that greedy married women cheat their single sisters and drain the job market. Teaching strategies are included. (KC)

The use of poetry in couples' groups is suggested to facilitate group process and break down resistance. Techniques include the use of reactions to a poem or song, the construction of poems, and the development of images. Poetry can help clients express feelings and examine communication patterns. (Author)

To determine if empirically derived dependent variables could differentiate typical conflict and accord discussions, couples engaged in conflict and accord discussions on topics rated prior to and following discussions. Discriminators were volume, criticism, disagreement and sarcasm. Variables which did not differentaite topics were swearing, rate…

The Allred Interaction Analysis is an instrument, designed from theory and research, that codifies communication. It gives researchers a tool for assessing interaction in dyadic relationships and a cognitive map for analyzing their verbal communication. Preliminary evidence indicates this vehicle is a useful means for promoting change. (Author)

Minimal sex differences were found between male and female college students' perceptions of the following roles and role combinations: worker; spouse; parent; worker-spouse; and worker-parent. (Author/BEF)

Couples completed questionnaires designed to test assumptions of the Spouse Observation Checklist. The assumption that the checklist represents the universe of marital pleasing and displeasing events received some support. Data did not support the assumption that couples can reliably observe their own behavior. (Author)

Suggests that, for some research, interviewing spouses together leads to data being generated that could not be obtained from individual interviews. Interaction of the spouses promotes a fuller presentation of the matter under discussion. This interaction is observed directly and thus can be used as data. (Author/BEF)

Examines the extent to which spouse's level of education hinders or helps the careers of Ph.D. recipients. Findings indicate that having a Ph.D. spouse negatively affected wives' labor-force participation and husbands' offices held and articles published. Marriage to a highly educated spouse has at least some negative career effects. (Author)

Reviews recent literature on psychological changes that occur in middle age in men and women which indicate that men tend to become more affiliated and women more assertive. A series of cases are presented to illustrate the impact of these changes on middle age and marriage. (Author)