Describes the use of a penny game as a counseling technique to interrupt an unwanted cycle of behavior between spouses. The game can be explained in terms of both paradox and power and is useful with several marriage counseling techniques which teach more appropriate verbal behavior. (JAC)

Surveyed 704 couples to test a model in which role enactment and role consensus were intervening variables between age at marriage and marital satisfaction. Findings showed age at marriage was not significant, but quality of spouse role enactment and role consensus had a strong, positive association with marital satisfaction. (JAC)

This paper examines the pronominal system of address between spouses in Nepal. Nepal has eight pronouns corresponding to the t/v distinction, some of which are honorific, and some of which are non-honorific. According to the degree of respect implied, they are massif, sarkaar, hajur, yahaaN, TapaiiN, aaphu, Timi, and TaN. Massif and sarkaar are…

Suggests do's, don'ts, and maybe's for the wives of superintendents who must acquire the finesse to live with what often appears to be contradictory and clashing sets of values and points of view. (Author/WM)

Surveyed divorce settlements in Georgia and Washington during 1970 and 1980 to replicate Seal's study of no-fault divorce in California. Findings indicate few substantive changes. With no-fault divorce, alimony was rare, child custody was awarded to mothers, assets tended to be shared, and child support had not decreased. (Author/JAC)

Single women (N=45) who had made early decisions not to have children and 45 single women who wanted to be mothers completed a questionnaire exploring issues relevant to various stages of partner selection. Factor analysis revealed two partner-selection dimensions highlighting educational economic attributes and characteristics of the dyadic…

Examined variables affecting life satisfaction in three categories of married women: those who are presently, formerly, and never employed. Results revealed that, while there are little differences among the three categories in overall life satisfaction, there are significant differences in the variables that influence life satisfaction for each…

Examined the congruency of sex-role attitudes of husbands and wives and assessed how these attitudes are related to the quality of the couple's relationship. The marriages found to have the lowest evaluation of marital quality were those with a traditional husband and a modern wife. (Author/RC)

Examined changes in response control patterns exhibited by five married couples who participated in two brief psychotherapy groups. Used the Ericson-Rogers Relational Coding System to score the control direction of interactions between group members. Found individual flexibility increased for each of these relationships over the course of group…

Examined husbands' appraisals of five marital events which were recorded daily for 90 consecutive days. Subjects (N=20) appraised events according to four qualities: desirability, changingness, meaningfulness, and control. Found no differences in how husbands from distressed and nondistressed marriages viewed events. (Author)

Presents research findings that marriage enrichment participants are neither as satisfied with their marriages as nonparticipants nor as dissatisified as those couples who request marriage counseling. Compared pretreatment levels of marital satisfaction of enrichment participants with published norms and the scores of control couples. (Author/RC)

Describes two broad-band factor scales of marital distress constructed to supplement existing profile scales of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory. The two new scales, labeled Disaffection and Disharmony, both discriminated between normative and clinical samples. Distinct distributions support the concept of two separate, interactive components of…

Tested the hypothesis that low consensus of volunteer couples completing the Spouse Observation Checklist underestimates that achieved by clinic couples. That hypothesis was not supported. Couples (N=10) beginning marital therapy achieved agreement rates on joint SOC behaviors of 38.6 percent. Findings confirm the low reliability of spouse…

Assesses the types of conversational patterns--from cross-complaining to contracting--that characterize satisfied couples; suggests theoretical models that account for their success. Proposes the hypothesis that the underlying mechanism that maintains closeness in marriages is symmetry in emotional responsiveness, which relates to whether spouses…

Asked subjects (N=220) how they would feel about their mates' behavior in eight hypothetical situations designed to measure jealousy. Responses indicated that jealousy is likely to be a major issue. Sex role orientation is most consistently related to jealousy with sex role traditional subjects being the most jealous. (Author)