35 functional and 35 dysfunctional married couples were compared for their expression of love in their marital relationship. The two groups were differentiated on whether they sought help for marriage problems and on the number and severity of problems they had in their marriages. There was little difference between the two groups in their expectations of expression of love in marriage but the functional married couples expressed significantly more love than did the dysfunctional couples. The differences between the two groups were particularly great in the expression of affection and in providing moral support and encouragement for each other.
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