Marital comparison levels, i.e. the outcomes that a person realistically expects and feels are deserved from a relationship, are often assumed (in the social exchange framework) to be involved in the evaluation of marital outcomes. The present study examines factors influencing such expectations in a sample of 301 married individuals. Expectation levels positively co-vary with the importance attributed to them. In addition, relational commitment emerges as the most powerful co-variate of expectations. Finally, age emerges as a co-variate of expectations for both males and females with relatively older men and relatively younger women having higher expectation levels.
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