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Marital satisfaction is defined uniquely by each research group who wants to study it.

Marital satisfaction is a concept and therefore not objectively observable by researchers. Because of this, researchers must operationally define how they will measure marital satisfaction and what characteristics they will be measuring. Due to the fact that it would be unethical for researchers to determine who participants in a study marry or for the researchers to alter large aspects of the familys life, there are not many experimental studies done. Most research in this area is done through surveys. There are several standardized tests that help evaluate the level of marital satisfaction. These tests include: Marital Adjustment Test, Revised Marital Adjustment, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Vaillant 1993). Although there are these standardized tests, only a few of the studies done on marital satisfaction use them. Most studies use a series of surveys focusing on a few factors that the researchers believe effect marital satisfaction. Surveys asking couples about their marital satisfaction can be done in many ways. Two of which are prospectively and retrospectively. A prospective survey asks couples questions about their marriage as it is currently; where as a retrospective survey asks couples to review how their marriage was in the past and perhaps how there marriage has changed over time. These two styles of surveys can have quite different results. In a study done by Caroline and George Vaillant, as researchers, they were interested in the supposed U-shape curve that marital satisfaction goes through over time. The research Vaillant was basing the study on suggested that all marriages start out with a high level of marital satisfaction that slowly drops as the couple has children and as the children grow, but as the children move out and the couple has more time together, their marital satisfaction begins to increase. The researchers in this study were interested in conditions in which the U-shape would not appear, and thought that perhaps the methods of gathering the information was not the a good

one. They chose to compare the results of prospective and retrospective surveys. Between the years of 1938 and 1942 researchers selected Harvard University students (268 sophomore men) to participate in this 40 year study of marriage. These men and their wives (if they were willing) were asked to respond to one of three standardized questionnaires about marriage. Although several participants dropped out or got a divorce, there was still enough data to draw a few conclusions. They compared retrospective and prospective data about marriage, and found that when asked prospectively, the marriage satisfaction remained quite stable over time, with slight variation in men and women (women seemed to have a bit lower marital satisfaction between 1620 years of marriage). However, when asked retrospectively, the middle years were less satisfying and the low level of marital satisfaction lasted longer than when couples were asked prospectively. The researchers determined from their study that the U-shape that appears over the course of the marriage may be due to the way researchers gather information about marital satisfaction. When asked prospectively about their marriage, both partners had a higher level of satisfaction than when they were asked about a time in the past. (Vaillant 1993) As this experiment demonstrates, marital satisfaction is difficult to research and even more difficult to record accurately. There are innumerable factors the lead to, and have an effect on marital satisfaction. There are several ways that have been used to categorize marital factors that influence marital satisfaction. According to Larsen and Holman (Larson 1994), there are three major areas that have effects on marital satisfaction. These areas are background and context, couple interaction, and individual traits and behaviors. Background and context involves the family each partner in the marriage grew up in (their family of origin), and the current context of their lives and marriage. The context includes life events such as birth of first child, children in adolescents, death of a family member, loss of a job or any other event that may have

an effect on a marriage or an individuals life. The background and context area covers all the factors outside of the individual, the environmental factors. These are factors the couple must deal with but have little influence over. The area of couple interaction involves how the couple communicates, solves problems, and spends leisure time together. This area also includes similarities in values, beliefs and ideas about gender roles. The research in this area shows that a high level of premarital similarity predicts a longer and happier marriage. The factors in this area are highly important and interrelated to marital satisfaction. The last area of individual traits focuses on personality and physical and mental health factors. These factors predispose individuals to act a certain way in a given situation, and are very important in predicting a successful marriage. (Larson 1994) Along with the idea of context and background, the number of children the couple has as well as the amount of planning the couple puts into having children has a large impact on marital satisfaction. In 2008, Erika Lawrence published an article that discussed the birth of a first child on the marital satisfaction of the couple. The researchers involved in the study gathered participants that were married. This was a longitudinal study that followed 160 couple from the first six months of marriage until 12 months after the birth of the first child. The control group was made up of 56 couples that were not expecting children, and the experimental group was made up of 104 couples that were expecting a child. Each couple was given two interviews before the birth of the child, and two interviews after the birth (the control group was given interviews at corresponding times). The interviews focused on marital satisfaction, and for the experimental group they asked about the amount of planning before the pregnancy. The data showed that marital satisfaction does decrease after the birth of the first child, but it found that with a high amount of pregnancy planning, the decrease in marital satisfaction was less than that

of couples that had surprise pregnancies. Also, for the husbands, high amount of planning delayed the onset of the drop in marital satisfaction. This article identified three reasons for the results they found. The first was the idea that perhaps those with a more stable marriage are the ones who chose to plan to have children, and therefore their marriage experiences a smaller decrease in satisfaction. The second reason is that perhaps there is a rise in marital satisfaction in anticipation of the birth of their child. Marital satisfaction before pregnancy and after the birth may be the same, but because being pregnant increases marital satisfaction it seems like after the birth, the marriage suffers a large decrease in satisfaction. The third and final reason for the results they found was that couples who planned their pregnancy were more satisfied with their marriage, and because of this higher level of satisfaction they were more likely to keep communication open throughout the pregnancy and after the birth. The higher level of initial marital satisfaction when the couple found out they were having a child provided an air bag effect for the decrease in marital satisfaction after the birth. (Lawrence 2008) In a meta-analysis done by Jean Twenge, she concluded from multiple studies that having children decreases marital satisfaction and the more children a couple has, the more their marital satisfaction decreases. The meta-analysis suggests however, that marital satisfaction may drop with children because there is an increase in responsibility for the couple but the couple has less quality time to spend together. The article suggests that overall individual satisfaction will rise due to a sense of fulfillment with the amount of children, even though marital satisfaction may decline. (Twenge 2003) Religious views and beliefs a couple or an individual within the couple has a large influence on marital satisfaction. The more similar the couple is the more likely they are to have a happy and successful marriage. In a study conducted by Margaret Dudley, 730 married

questionnaires, of those 730 possible participants, 228 questionnaires were completed by couples who qualified to participate in the study. The questionnaire assessed marital satisfaction through the use of the standardized Lock-Wallace Short Marital Adjustment Test. The questionnaire also assessed religious dimensions of ideology, ritualism, experience and salience through the use of the Basic Religious Scales. This scale assess how religiously involved the individuals were, how much they valued religion, if they shared it with anyone and how important they felt it influenced their lives and marriages. The researchers categorized data based on age, gender, level of education, years of marriage, income and number of children currently living at home. The data showed that 86 percent of the individuals that took part in the correlational study stated that having the same religion as their spouse had a positive influence on their marriage, nine percent felt that religion had a negative effect on their marriage and the remaining four percent stated that religion had no real effect on their marital satisfaction. Many of the couples felt that if they (each partner in the marriage) did not share the same religious beliefs their marriage would have ended in divorce. For those couples, religion provided a way to keep the couple together and strong through trials. The study found that sharing religious activities with partners and family seemed to have the strongest correlation with a happy marriage. When asked to rate the happiness of their marriage 77.2 percent of the participants in this study rated their marriage as either happy or perfectly happy. (Dudley 1990) From this correlational study, and others like it, it is safe to say that religion plays a major role in marital satisfaction. The more similar the values each partner has the more stable the foundation for marital satisfaction is. Religion provides social support and a sense of belonging for the couple. Because most religions cherish marriage, the religious couple has a greater reason

to make the marriage strong and happy, and is more reluctant to resort to divorse than nonreligious couples. Another factor that changes the perception of marital satisfaction is marital therapy. Therapy is useful to strengthen a marriage or help a couple resolve issues. There is a study conducted by Susan Johnson that examined predictive factors of successful emotion focused therapy within a marriage. The main factors they examined were: attachment quality, emotional self-disclosure, interpersonal trust, marital adjustment, intimacy, and the therapists rating of improvement. When the couple and the therapist had the same goals in mind for therapy, the therapy was usually more successful. The biggest single factor influencing the impact of marital therapy on marital strengthening was the wifes faith that therapy would help. (Johnson 1997) According to Brian Doss, women are more likely than men to seek counseling. He found that Caucasian, middle-aged, higher educated, and higher income individuals are those that are most likely to seek therapy or to have a more positive attitude toward therapy. Although, for couples who attend marital therapy the outcomes are good, few couples seek out therapy. (Doss 2003) Because there are so many factors that can effect a marriage, and there is almost no way accurately determine which factors have the most influence with the majority of the population. It is a surprising fact that so few couples seek marital therapy as a way to identify problems and resolve issues within a marriage. Marital therapy is helpful way to give couples the best chance to have a successful marriage. There are several hypothesis for why couples choose not to seek marital counseling to improve their relationship; some of these include: financial limitations, lack of understanding and education about the process of marital therapy, and a fear that society will judge those couples who go to counseling.

In an effort to increase the positive attitude toward marital therapy, I will be conducting an experimental study that educates married couples about the benefits of marital counseling. My hypothesis is that educating couples on the positive effects marital therapy can have will increase the likelihood that the couple will seek therapy if they encounter problems. If the couple does not encounter problems, I assume that the education will change the couples attitude toward therapy to be more positive. Marital therapy is useful in dealing with all types of factors influencing marital satisfaction. Because no one factor can be held responsible for the success or failure of a marriage, I think that marital therapy can help identify and resolve a variety of issues found within a marriage.

Works Cited
Doss, B. D., Atkins, D. C., & Christensen, A. (2003). Who's Dragging Their Feet? Husbands and Wives Seeking Marital Therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 165-177. Dudley, M. G., & Kosinski, F. A. (1990). Religiosity and Marital Satisfaction: A Research Note. Review of Religious Research, 78-86. Larson, J. H., & Holman, T. B. (1994). Premarital Predictors of Marital Quality and Stability. Family Relations, 228-237. Lawence, E. C. (2008). Marital Satisfaction Across the Transition to Parenthood. National Insitutes of Health, 41-50. Johnson, S. M., & Talitman, E. (1997). Predictors of Success in Emotionally Focused Marital Therapy. Journal of Marital and Famil Therapy, 135-152. Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2003). Parenthood and Marital Satisfacton: A Meta-Analytic Review. Journal of Marriage and Family , 574-583. Vaillant, C. O., & Vaillant, G. E. (1993). Is the U-Curve of Marital Satisfaction an Illusion? A 40-Year Study of Marriage. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 230-239

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