This exploratory research responds to two primary questions: 1) what is marital conflict and, 2) does it transform newlywed relationships? Using three-wave panel data collected with the purpose of studying the participants of the Covenant Marriage Act in Louisiana, it examines the nature and effects of conflict on newlywed couples over the first five years of marriage. While the analysis contained in this dissertation answers the research questions, it also presents more questions than it answers. This research examines six major themes regarding 1)the nature of marital conflict among these couples, 2) what couples disagree about, 3) how do couples behave when conflict is present, including managing thoughts of divorce, 4) how does conflict change over time, 5) how does conflict experienced in the family of origin manifest in current marriages, and 6) what effect does religiosity have on conflict? Findings support the conventional wisdom in marriage that conflict increases over time, and marital quality decreases over time. In addition, findings show that by wave three sex is the number one topic of disagreement, and that it had the largest increase over time.

The rising trend in marital instability and divorce is a topic of discussion nearly world-wide. While divorce affects considerably fewer people in non-Western societies, its rising trend and impact are quite alarming. Given the well established findings in the West, it is useful to study divorce and marital instability in non-Western societies so that prior findings from the West can be scrutinized and validated cross-culturally. This study is necessary because the theories developed in the West may not be entirely applicable to non-Western societies and cultural factors may in some cases be more important than socio-economic factors. By using the East Asian Social Survey (EASS), a three-society survey conducted in China, Taiwan, and South Korea in the later part of the 1990s, this study investigates the determinants of marital instability in three East Asian societies. Drawing insights from three theoretical traditions, namely, socio-cultural context, resources, and gender, the central goal of this study is to use comparable survey data and quantitative analyses (i.e., ordered logistics regression) to explore the effects of resources, gender (marital) roles, and gender beliefs on marital instability in the selected three societies. Results from multivariate statistical analyses suggest that the effects of resources, gender roles, and gender beliefs on marital instability vary not only by societies under study but also by gender. While the findings lent limited support to the resources-based theory, gender beliefs and to a lesser extent, gender roles, emerged as the most consistent predictors of marital instability in all three societies. Data limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Dissertation (DPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study focuses on the evaluation of a programme for the marital development of migrant couples. Constructs relevant to marriage and various theories on family functioning are discussed in detail. The three variables included in most theories are adaptability, cohesion and communication, as emphasised in the Circumplex model (Olson, Sprenkle & Russel, 1979), which forms the basis for this study. The importance of marriage development through enrichment programmes is discussed, and it appears that prevention is described as the most important form of therapy. The research was divided into three phases. In phase I, 25 couples living in South Africa and 25 South African couples living in England were used. The following unique elements causing tension in marriages of migrant couples were identified: family unit, role responsibilities, spiritual, emotional and physical matters, external influences and communication. In phase II the literature was studied to determine which programmes already exist. This knowledge, in conjunction with the results of phase I of this research, was used to develop a unique programme for migrant marriages. This newly developed programme focuses on the following aspects of marriage: conflict resolution; the understanding and negotiation of the different roles in a marital relationship; the role of external factors; and physical, emotional and spiritual fulfilment in the relationship. Phase III of the research related to the presentation and evaluation of this newly developed programme in order to assess the impact thereof on the psychofortologic development of migrant couples. Participants were divided into three groups. The programme was evaluated by presenting and comparing an experimental group (10 couples living in England) with two control groups (Control Group 1, 10 couples and Control Group 2, 5 couples living in England). All three groups completed questionnaires as a pre-test. The experimental group attended the new programme, Control Group 1 received no intervention, and Control Group 2 engaged in the alternative intervention. The groups then completed questionnaires directly after the intervention and again three months later. The aspects of marriage relationships where significant development took place, were: satisfaction with religious orientation, sexual intimacy, social intimacy, and a more constructive handling of conflict. A further aspect whereby participating couples benefited from the programme was the understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses. Some of the recommendations include that more time should be allowed to talk about priorities, and also that longer discussion times between sessions should be allowed. The program should preferably be presented as an “island situation”. An effective follow-up of participants should be incorporated into the programme. In future research it should be determined whether any existing programme addresses the specific needs of the target group. Should this not be the case, it is proposed that a new programme is developed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie ondersoek fokus op die evaluering van ’n program vir die huweliksontwikkeling van migrante-egpare. Konstrukte wat met die huwelik verband hou, asook verskillende teorieë oor gesinsfunksionering, word bespreek. Die drie gesinsveranderlikes wat in die meeste teorieë voorkom, is aanpasbaarheid, kohesie en kommunikasie. Hierdie aspekte word beklemtoon deur die Circumplex-model (Olson, Sprenkle & Russel, 1979), wat ook as grondslag van hierdie ondersoek dien. Die belangrikheid van huweliksontwikkeling deur verrykkingsprogramme is bespreek, waaruit blyk dat voorkoming die belangrikste vorm van terapie is. Die navorsingsproses is in drie fases verdeel. In Fase I het 25 egpare wat in Suid-Afrika woon en 25 Suid-Afrikaanse egpare wat in Engeland woon aan die ondersoek deelgeneem. Die volgende aspekte wat spanning veroorsaak in migrantehuwelike is geïdentifiseer: gesinseenheid, rolverantwoordelikhede, geestelike sake, emosionele nabyheid, fisieke sake, eksterne invloede en kommunikasie. Fase II van die ondersoek het behels dat die literatuur bestudeer is om vas te stel watter programme reeds bestaan en hoe bestaande kennis, tesame met die resultate van Fase I van hierdie ondersoek, gebruik kon word om ’n unieke program vir migrante-huwelike te ontwikkel. Die nuut ontwikkelde program fokus op die volgende huweliksaspekte: konflikhantering; die verstaan en onderhandeling van die onderskeie rolle in die huwelik; die rol van eksterne invloede op die huwelik; en fisiese, emosionele en geestelike tevredenheid binne die huweliksverhouding. In Fase III van die ondersoek is die nuut ontwikkelde program aangebied en geëvalueer om die impak daarvan op migrante-ontwikkeling te bepaal. Deelnemende Suid-Afrikaanse egpare is in Engeland geïdentifiseer en in drie groepe verdeel, naamlik; tien egpare in die eksperimentele groep, tien egpare in een kontrolegroep en vyf egpare in ’n tweede kontrolegroep. Deelnemers in al drie groepe het dieselfde vraelyste as die deelnemers in Fase I van die ondersoek voltooi. Dit het gedien as die voormeting. Daarna is die voorlopige program vir die eksperimentele groep aangebied, terwyl die eerste kontrolegroep geen intervensie ontvang het nie en die tweede kontrolegroep ’n alternatiewe intervensie deurloop het. Direk na afloop van die program het deelnemers van die eksperimentele groep en die tweede kontrolegroep weer dieselfde vraelyste voltooi. Drie maande later het deelnemers van al drie groepe as tweede nameting weer dieselfde vraelyste voltooi. Die aspekte van die huweliksverhouding waar beduidende ontwikkeling plaasgevind het, was tevredenheid met godsdiensoriëntasie, seksuele intimiteit, sosiale intimiteit en meer konstruktiewe konflikhantering. ’n Ander aspek waarby deelnemers aan die program baat gevind het, was die beter verstaan van mekaar se sterk- en swakpunte. Enkele aanbevelings is dat meer tyd ingeruim word om oor prioriteite binne die huwelik te praat, dat besprekingstye tussen die verskillende sessies verleng word, dat ’n program verkieslik as ’n eilandsituasie aangebied word, en dat opvolgaksies met deelnemende egpare deel van die program moet wees. Daar moet in toekomstige navorsing oor huweliksontwikkeling vasgestel word of ’n bestaande program die behoeftes van die spesifieke teikengroep aanspreek, en indien nie, word voorgestel dat ’n nuwe program ooreenkomstig hulle omstandighede en behoeftes ontwikkel word.

Marital disruption (i.e., marital separation, divorce) is associated with a wide range of poor mental and physical health outcomes, including increased risk for all-cause mortality. One biological intermediary that may help explain the association between marital disruption and poor health is accelerated cellular aging.

This investigation addressed the question "What are the characteristics of the relationship between power, interference, frustration and aggression within the context of a conjugal conflict?" This investigation used a mathematical correlational descriptive design with magnitude estimation measures to evaluate the relationships between power, interference, frustration and aggression. The measures were administered to 39 women drawn from state funded social service agencies. Thirty-three (n = 13) percent of the total sample were retested to determine the stability of the measures. The reliability of the magnitude estimation measures ranged from.90 to.98 for test retest stability and.83 to.92 for the internal consistency or theta coefficients. Regression analysis of the data indicated that power had the strongest relationship to aggression (R² =.89). Neither interference nor frustration had any relationship to the concept of aggression. Empirical modeling revealed that parental aggression, through power, increased the strength of the relationship between power and aggression (R² =.96). The model also revealed that interference had the sole relationship with the concept of frustration (R² =.83).

This study examined whether a difference in marital satisfaction existed among pre-marital cohabitating couples and non pre-marital cohabitating couples. Twenty of the couples had cohabitated and twenty had never cohabitated prior to their marriage. The forty couples were from the Atlanta metropolitan and LaGrange, Georgia areas and were selected for the study utilizing a non probability/purposive snowball sampling technique. The couples were referred by previous participants and were screened in order to ensure that all eligibility requirements were met. The couples' ages ranged from 20-45 years and all couples were involved in their first marriage. The Marital Satisfaction Inventory Revised (MSI-R) was administered to all forty couples in order to ascertain differences in marital satisfaction and to determine an interaction effect of gender and cohabitation status. The MSI-R is a 150 question, true-false inventory which measures marital satisfaction by testing nine marital scales and two validity scales. The findings of the study indicated that there were significant differences in marital satisfaction among premarital cohabitating and non pre-marital cohabitating husbands and wives. The significance between the two groups were Aggression, Family History of Distress, Time Together, Role Orientation, and Disagreement about Finances.

An attempt was made to further establish the validity of the Polyfactor Test of Marital Difficulties, a relatively new, yet potentially valuable sentence completion, self-rating marital difficulties test. . Another test, the Marital Adjustment Inventory was also used for comparison purposes.

Marriage is an important phenomenon that occurs in most societies across the world. Within the Islamic belief system, marriage is regarded as a sacred union and is obligatory on all Muslim people. This qualitative study explored the perceptions that eight young Muslim South African adults have regarding marriage, using semistructured interviews. The data was analysed by following a thematic content analysis framework which highlighted aspects such as the extent to which participants ascribed to their religious beliefs regarding marriage, any societal influences that may have shaped their views on marriage as well as the factors they believed lead to the success as well as the breakdown of marriages. From the results, it was evident that young Muslim South African adults had positive views on marriage, and expected to get married at some point in their lives. This was primarily due to their religious Islamic backgrounds and family upbringings. Moreover, the results indicated that young Muslim adults are more flexible with regard to engaging in pre-marital romantic relationships, yet continued to hold marriage in high regard. Participants outlined factors such as teamwork from spouses, trust, commitment, understanding, honesty as well as communication between spouses as integral in achieving and maintaining a successful marriage. These perceptions are discussed in relation to findings from other studies. The need for pre-marital programmes for young Muslim adults is highlighted.

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi investigar a qualidade conjugal nos relacionamentos contemporâneos. Para tal, dois artigos foram elaborados. O primeiro apresenta uma revisão sistemática da literatura com o intuito de mapear o que é investigado como relevante a respeito das temáticas associadas à qualidade, ajustamento e satisfação conjugal. O segundo apresenta um estudo empírico com 1476 sujeitos, no qual investigou-se a associação entre as variáveis idade, tempo de duração da conjugalidade, presença ou não de filhos, salário pessoal mensal, percepção sobre a conjugalidade dos pais e a qualidade conjugal que vivenciam. Uma análise discriminante entre grupos de alta e baixa qualidade conjugal também foi realizada. Os resultados refletem a presença de múltiplos fatores que circunscrevem a qualidade conjugal dos participantes e que expressam a complexidade de investigar e compreender esse fenômeno. / The objective of this research was to investigate marital quality in contemporary relationships. To this, two articles were prepared. The first presents a systematic literature review in order to map what is investigated as relevant regarding issues associated with quality, adjustment and marital satisfaction. The second presents a study of 1476 participants in which we investigated the association between the variables age, duration of the marital relationship, presence of children, monthly personal income, perception of parental marital and marital quality that experience. A discriminant analysis between high and low marital quality groups was also realized. The results reflect the presence of multiple factors that circumscribe the marital quality and express the complexity of investigate and understand this phenomenon.

Conflict in marital relationships affects couple intimacy and satisfaction impacting on the couple system, the family system and wider social systems. Negative conflict is associated with breakdown in intimacy, marital dissatisfaction, and is seen to be a prominent cause of marital failure. As conflict is a process, it has the possibility of change and development over time, including moving towards a process whereby disagreements can be worked out with mutually acceptable solutions. Theoretical frameworks for conflict and marital counselling were reviewed and the systems-interactionist theory and a systemic-based counselling approach chosen for the purposes of this study. It was hypothesised that a systemic-based counselling approach would lower the levels of conflict occurring within a marital relationship. The principal objective of this study was to provide a more rigorous investigation than previous studies of client perceptions of the effectiveness of a systems-based counselling approach for marital counselling. Three case studies were conducted, with embedded units of analysis, within the context of a therapeutic process which drew on current theories of systemic counselling. Conflict was measured and operationalised as overt behavioural conflict, communication of negative affect, frequency of disagreements, intensity of disagreements, desire to change the other partner, the desire for change, and evidence of, and frequency of, positive conflict. As the study was based on the client's perceptions of change, multi-methods of selfreports were employed. As none of the known measurements met the needs of this study, a questionnaire known as the QCR was devised specifically for the pre- and posttests. The QCR was designed to measure: any increase or decrease in positive conflict; changes to both the intensity and frequency in negative conflict; and perceptions of the desire for change. The effectiveness of the counselling approach was measured by comparing the results of the pre-and post-tests with the continual self-reports and the self-reports at the long term follow-up interviews. An analysis of the self-reports focus on: the desire for change; the effectiveness of a systems based counselling approach in lowering negative conflict; and the usefulness of the QCR and other tools as measures. The systems-based-counselling approach, proved from the clients' perspective, to be: highly effective in case one; mostly effective in case two; and ineffective in case three as one partner aborted the counselling process. The systems-based-counselling approach had variable success in decreasing the intensity of negative conflict but was mostly successful in decreasing the frequency of negative conflict. This approach was not largely successful in reporting an increase in the frequency of positive conflict. The study revealed evidence of a relationship between commitment to the marital relationship and negative conflict. It also adds to the debate about the appropriateness of a systems-based counselling approach in violent relationships. In judging the clients' perceptions of the effectiveness of the systems-based counselling approach multi-measurements employed including the lengthy recording of the therapeutic sessions. It is claimed that this thesis offers a more rigorous methodology than anecdotal evidence previously used in the reporting of systemic counselling cases.