Decades of research have shown that family-of-origin experiences are generally important predictors of individuals' later relationship/marital quality. On average, the healthier these experiences are, the healthier adult children's relationships and marriages tend to be. The focus of this study was to investigate how coming to terms with difficulties experienced in the family of origin may enhance adult children's ability to create high quality relationships and marriages. The study employed a sample of 6423 U.S. couples, 18-45 years old, who were dating, cohabitating, engaged or married. This study showed that individuals in couple relationships who reported healthier family-of-origin experiences and those who had come to terms with difficult experiences in their families had higher relationship/marital quality than those who reported less healthy experiences and had not come to terms with them. Males in this sample were more likely than females to have come to terms with difficulties experienced in their families of origin, while females were more likely than males to believe that there was still something from their family experience that they were struggling with. Results showed that individuals may have utilized several factors to help them come to terms with difficulties in their families. Some of these factors may have been: being autonomous from the family of origin, being agreeable, extroverted, flexible, mature, spiritual, loving, having high self-esteem, being able to be empathetic and send clear messages while communicating with partners, spouses, or parents. Some vulnerabilities associated with coming to terms may have been: showing symptoms of depression, neuroticism, contempt, stonewalling, flooding, and being negative in relating to others. Results of this study suggest that the ability to come to terms with difficulties in the family of origin is related not only to the resource factors available for the individuals struggling but also to the resources utilized by their partners/spouses.

In an attempt to strengthen marriages during the transition to parenthood, the Marriage Moments program was developed from Blaine Fowers' virtues based model of marital quality. Marriage Moments is a non-intrusive, mostly self-guided approach to marriage education, which is easily incorporated into childbirth education classes. The Marriage Moments curriculum stresses building marriage on a strong foundation of friendship and partnership. In this model, marital friendship is strengthened through a shared vision of life and important life goals; partnership is nurtured by the virtues of generosity, fairness and loyalty. This program was tested on 155 married couples that were expecting their first child. Couples were randomly assigned to one control or two treatment groups. The control group participated in a childbirth education class, but did not receive the Marriage Moments program. The instructor-encouraged treatment group viewed the Marriage Moments video in their childbirth education classes and were encouraged to do workbook activities by their class instructor; the self-guided treatment group couples were given the video and workbook to use at home. The Marriage Moments video is comprised of five, eight-minute segments introducing the marital virtues of friendship, generosity, fairness and loyalty. The workbook provides couples with additional information about the transition to parenthood and the possible applications of the virtues principles, including individual and couple activities. All couples were assessed using a battery of self- and spouse-report measures immediately before and after their child-birth classes and then at three and nine months after the birth of their babies. This longitudinal study examined the effect of the Marriage Moments program on marital virtues, marital quality, and intentionality. Relationship outcome measures included in this study were the Marital Virtues Profile, Revised-Dyadic Adjustment Scale, RELATE Satisfaction subscale and Transition Adjustment Scale. Treatment group couples reported high involvement in and enjoyment of the program. When asked to rate the program, couples evaluated the program as 'important' and 'worthwhile.' However, despite positive program evaluation, statistical tests revealed no consistent difference between the control and treatment groups over four times. Subgroup analysis also failed to reveal group differences when controlling for education, number of years married, and early marital distress. Suggestions for future study include contrasts of skills and virtues based curriculums, as well as high and low dosage interventions. In addition, this program should be studied in both clinical and educational settings.

This study examined possible factors that may influence parental approval for their adult child's engaged relationship. A total of 4,175 individuals completed the RELATE inventory. Among the items in the questionnaire were measures of parental approval, parents' marital quality, autonomy from family-of-origin, and relationship quality. Individuals also reported age, education, length of relationship, parents' marital status, and parents' socioeconomic status. Results from the linear regression analysis indicate that age, parental marital quality, autonomy from family-of-origin, and couple relationship quality all influence parental approval. What is interesting about these findings is the difference in the predictive power of males versus females. The female models accounted for much more variance than the males models, suggesting that approval may be more important to females among other possibilities which are discussed in depth. Length of the relationship and parental marital status did not influence parental approval. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between relationship quality and religious discrepancy of interracial couples who are either married or cohabiting. Two variables of religious discrepancy (religious affiliation discrepancy and religiosity discrepancy) were studied. The sample included three groups of interracial couples: Hispanic-white, Asian-white, and Black-white. The data were analyzed using a structural equation model and regression estimates of the three groups were compared. Results showed a significant relationship in only three of the 12 relationships between the two variables of religious discrepancy and relationship quality. Significant negative relationships were found between religious denomination discrepancy and relationship quality for the Hispanic-white and Black-white group. In addition, a significant negative relationship was found between religiosity discrepancy and relationship quality in the Asian-white group. Clinical implications are discussed.

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This exploratory study posited that being in an insecure marriage would increase marital conflict and perceived relational aggression when the couple is experiencing economic constraints. The cross-sectional design assessed two groups of marriages: secure and insecure. A structural equation model using multiple group comparison tested the effect of each type of marriage, controlling for husband and wife education, number of children, and length of marriage. Results indicated that husbands who identify as insecure experience greater marital conflict and perceive their spouses to be more psychologically aggressive. There was also evidence of a cross-lag effect indicating husbands' perceived marital conflict positively influences wives' perceptions of greater spousal psychological aggression for insecure couples, but not secure couples. This is the first study to use attachment as a moderating variable in the family stress model. Future research should look to include greater measures of attachment, with a focus on longitudinal designs. Implications are also discussed. / Graduation date: 2013

Anhand von drei Untersuchungen, die jeweils als eigenständige Artikel in Fachzeitschriften publiziert wurden, werden unterschiedliche Aspekte der Rolle der Familie auf das Partnerwahl- und Partnerschaftsleben bei türkischstämmigen Personen untersucht. In einem ersten Artikel werden die Determinanten einer familiären Einflussnahme auf die Partnerwahl untersucht. Hierzu werden Hypothesen zum Einfluss des Bildungsgrades, der ethnischen Zusammensetzung des sozialen Netzwerkes und des Geschlechts untersucht. Ein weiterer Artikel untersucht, wie sich die familiäre Einflussnahme auf die Partnerwahl auf die spätere Partnerschaftsqualität auswirkt. Der dritte Artikel hat die familiären transnationalen Netzwerke als Untersuchungsgegenstand. Dabei wird analysiert, wie ein familiäres Netzwerk, das sich über mehrere Nationalstaaten spannt, auf die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer transnationalen Partnerschaft auswirkt.

Anhand von drei Untersuchungen, die jeweils als eigenständige Artikel in Fachzeitschriften publiziert wurden, werden unterschiedliche Aspekte der Rolle der Familie auf das Partnerwahl- und Partnerschaftsleben bei türkischstämmigen Personen untersucht. In einem ersten Artikel werden die Determinanten einer familiären Einflussnahme auf die Partnerwahl untersucht. Hierzu werden Hypothesen zum Einfluss des Bildungsgrades, der ethnischen Zusammensetzung des sozialen Netzwerkes und des Geschlechts untersucht. Ein weiterer Artikel untersucht, wie sich die familiäre Einflussnahme auf die Partnerwahl auf die spätere Partnerschaftsqualität auswirkt. Der dritte Artikel hat die familiären transnationalen Netzwerke als Untersuchungsgegenstand. Dabei wird analysiert, wie ein familiäres Netzwerk, das sich über mehrere Nationalstaaten spannt, auf die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer transnationalen Partnerschaft auswirkt.:1 Forschungsgegenstand und Aufbau der Synopsis .............................................................1 2 Partnerwahl im familialistischen Kontext ............................................................................3 3 Partnerwahl nach dem westlichen Liebesideal .................................................................. 7 4 Bildung und andere Determinanten des Partnerwahlmodus ............................................10 5 Partnerwahl im Migrationskontext .................................................................................. .12 6 Partnerwahlmodus und Partnerschaftsqualität ............................................................. ..16 7 Familiäre Netzwerke und transnationale Partnerschaften ............................................... 19 8 Zusammenfassung und Ausblick ...................................................................................... 27 9 Literaturverzeichnis ..........................................................................................................30

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Text in German, summaries in German and English / Diese Arbeit untersucht die Relevanz der Herkunftsfamilie und ihre Auswirkung auf eine spätere Paarbeziehung im Blick auf Beziehungszufriedenheit. Dazu ist ihr Einfluss auf deren Mitglieder aufzuzeigen, die theoretischen Faktoren zur ehelichen Zufriedenheit darzustellen und empirisch zu verifizieren oder zu falsifizieren. Dadurch ist veranschaulicht, wie Zufriedenheit einer ehelichen Beziehung durch unterschiedliche familiäre Vorprägungen beeinflusst oder sogar „vorherbestimmt“ ist. Daraus ist weiter ersichtlich, inwieweit Zufriedenheit einer ehelichen Beziehung sich tradiert, oder ob für eine gelungene Beziehung nicht doch zu „arbeiten“ ist. Diese Inspektion zentraler Partnerschaftsmerkmale soll zu Fortschritten in der sozialpsychologischen und seelsorgerlichen Theoriebildung führen. Für eine Arbeit im Bereich christlicher Seelsorge ist auch zu fragen, inwieweit der Zuspruch des Evangeliums in konkreter seelsorgerlicher Beratung hilft, dass Paare trotz negativer familiärer Vorprägung zu ehelicher Zufriedenheit finden. Die eigene Ehe zu pflegen erfordert persönliche Sorgfalt sowohl für den Mann als auch für die Frau und individuelle seelsorgerliche Aufmerksamkeit durch die christliche Gemeinde. / This dissertation examines relevance and impact of family history on marital relationship in regard to partner satisfaction. Firstly, the family’s influence on its members is investigated; secondly, the theoretical factors of marital satisfaction are explained; thirdly, these dimensions are empirically verified or falsified. The study demonstrates the impact or pre-definition of family history on marital satisfaction. Furthermore, it answers if marital satisfaction can be passed on or if it has to be consciously developed. The thorough examination of central marital partnership dimensions is leading to an improvement of theory construction in sociopsychological and pastoral counselling terms. As this paper is concerned with Christian counselling, it considers, how Christian doctrine can be relevant in counselling couples displaying a negative marital pre-disposition, by helping them to achieve marital satisfaction. To care for a marital relationship, the carefulness of both partners, as well as the pastoral attentiveness of the Christian church, is required. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)