The relationships between marital satisfaction, self-actualization, and empathy scores were tested for 30 intact couples. Analyses indicated that both self-actualization and empathy scores were independent predictors of marital satisfaction scores for men, but not for women. Implications were discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BahrS. J.ChappellC. B.LeighG. K. (1983) Age at marriage, role enactment, role consensus, and marital satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 1088–1097.
2.
DavisM. H. (1983) Measuring individual differences in empathy: evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 113–126.
3.
DavisM. H.OathoutH. A. (1987) Maintenance of satisfaction in romantic relationships: empathy and relational competence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 397–410.
4.
FieldsN. S. (1983) Satisfaction in long-term marriages. Social Work, 28, 37–41.
5.
FlettG. L.BlanksteinK. R.HewittP. L. (1991) Factor structure of ihe short index of self-actualization. In JonesA.CrandallR. (Eds.), Handbook of self-actualization. Corte Madera, CA: Select Press. Pp. 321–329.
6.
HarleyW. F.Jr. (1986) His needs, her needs. Grand Rapids, MI: Revell.
7.
JonesA.CrandallR. (1986) Validation of a Short Index of Self-actualization. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 12, 63–73.
8.
JonesA.CrandallR. (Eds.) (1991) Handbook of self-actualization. [Special Issue]Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 6(5).
9.
LauerR. H.LauerJ. C.KerrS. T. (1990) The long-term marriage: perceptions of stability and satisfaction. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 31, 189–195.
10.
MaslowA. H. (1954) Motivation and personality. New York: Harper & Row.
11.
Muñoz de FernándezM. D. C. (1978) Satisfaccion e insatisfaccion matrimonial: influencia de los factores de balance marital y de auto-realizacion [Marital satisfaction and dissatisfaction: the influence of marital balance and self-realization]. Revista Latinoamericana de Psychologia, 10, 337–350.
12.
RichardR. L.JexS. M. (1991) Further evidence for the validity of the Short Index of Self-actualization. In JonesA.CrandallR. (Eds.), Handbook of self-actualization. Corte Madera, CA: Select Press. Pp. 331–337.
13.
SabatelliR. M.BuckR.DreyerA. (1982) Nonverbal communication accuracy in married couples: relationship with marital complaints. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 1088–1097.
14.
SchummW. R.KirnI. E. (1982) Evaluating equity in the marital relationship: an alternative approach. Psychological Reports, 51, 759–762.
15.
ShostromE. (1966) Personal Orientation Inventory manual. (2nd ed.) San Diego, CA: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.
16.
SpanierG. B. (1976) Measuring dyadic adjustment: new scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 15–28.