Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Relationships play a significant role in emotional and physical well-being. Although many people believe that satisfying close relationships constitute the very best thing in life” (Berscheid, 1999, p. 260), the factors which contribute to relationship satisfaction have remained a mystery over the centuries. With almost half of all first marriages ending in divorce (United States Census Bureau, 2002), researchers have the opportunity to investigate potential reasons behind the apparent unhappiness and create interventions to support couples. This paper outlines the different, sometimes contradictory, aspects of marital satisfaction (personality, interactions, and expectations) and proposes a more comprehensive approach to explain some of the inconsistencies. Literature on the effects of personality (specifically, the individualistic, complementary, and similarity views) and interactions is summarized. The literature on expectations, including ideals, is also summarized followed by a discussion on why it may be the most comprehensive explanation thus far in the research. In the current study, the researcher investigated the prediction of marital satisfaction by level of congruence between ideal spouse and real spouse on constructs of Agreeableness, Neuroticism, and Conscientiousness. Results indicate that individuals whose real spouse description was congruent with their ideal spouse in regard to personality traits of Agreeableness only were more likely to report higher levels of marital satisfaction than those whose current spouse was incongruent with their description of an ideal spouse in regard to Agreeableness. Congruence between ideal and real spouse in regard to Agreeableness was found to be more predictive of marital satisfaction than similarity of personality.

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