A career with Extension can be very rewarding, but also very demanding, as employees have to balance job stress and time demands with family goals and demands. The very nature of Extension work brings some tension between the job and family, and employees need to be equipped to make decisions about personal and work time. If the Extension System is to be a leader of positive change for individuals, families and communities, its employees must be able to find that balance. Previous research with 4-H agents has identified 23 job responsibilities that were stressors, with some studies showing a direct relationship between Extension work and family problems. To build on these studies and establish the current situation among Extension agents with 4-H responsibilities in the Southern Region, this correlational study examined the relationships and differences between job characteristics and marital satisfaction, how agent characteristics directed those relationships, and what coping mechanisms agents used to ameliorate negative workamily interactions. The study instrument utilized the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test (LWMAT) to arrive at a global score that represented the distress level of the relationship for each agent. Demographic information and work-related information was also gathered from the agent responses to the instrument, and then used to develop relationships among variables. The findings of the study were that agents experience the stressors in similar ways and amounts, but their perceptions of those stressors and how they affect marital satisfaction differ. The group experiencing the stressors to the most detrimental level was the members of the “Sandwich Generation,” which include employees aged 35-54, and who find their careers sandwiched between raising children and caring for aging parents. They, along with other agents, need to employ numerous strategies to cope with the stresses they experience, including prioritizing, planning, and building a strong social support system as the top strategies.

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The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how race-related stress influenced marital satisfaction among ten African American married couples. Each couple participated in a 60 to 90 minute interview and completed a measure of marital satisfaction. Using phenomenology, symbolic interactionism, and family systems theory as a theoretical lens, this study described how African American married couples came to understand if and how the phenomenon of race-related stress influenced their marital satisfaction, and what meanings they created from this experience. Using modified analytic induction, couples discussed how their individual factors influenced their perceptions of race-related stress. Race-related stress couples also discussed how the phenomenon strengthened and challenged their marital satisfaction. It was also discovered that couples with race-related stress developed ways of coping with race-related stress in an effort to protect their marital satisfaction. One of the ten couples reported not experiencing race-related stress. A conceptual model, future research, and clinical implications from these findings are discussed. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the gaming behaviors of married individuals and couples who play Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game(s) (MMORPGs) including gaming addiction, time spent gaming, satisfaction in gaming participation, gaming interaction (between joint gaming spouses), and socio-demographic variables and the subsequent marital satisfaction levels of both individuals in the couple. Hypotheses were generally supported, excluding the hours spent gaming. 685 couples were separated and analyzed according to whether both individuals in the marriage gamed or just one individual gamed (couple-gaming type). Couples in which only one individual gamed (individual-gamer couples) had significantly lower marital satisfaction than all other groups and couples in which both gamed about the same amount of time (equal-gamers) held the highest marital satisfaction of the groups. Prediction models of marital satisfaction were determined for each couple-gaming type. The strongest predictions present in most of the models for marital satisfaction were the frequency that the couple retired to bed at the same time and the frequency that the couple quarreled specifically about gaming. Much MMORPG research has been presented on youth and adults, however to date there is no research on married gamers. Recent research on the video game habits of emerging adults called for further in depth investigation of the implications of video game use in the family formation stage of life.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:37:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cintia Gemmo Vilani.pdf: 2049497 bytes, checksum: d06ab114c9ffa52c35359d6cf33e5ef0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-22 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Researchers have studied about the interface of religion in weddings, identifying that religious affiliation may be an important factor in the marital relationship. The purpose of this dissertation was to raise the elements that would promote discuss issues of marital satisfaction and conflict among married people and evangelical in order to obtain material for guidance and development of quality programs for married life. For this we used questionnaires to obtain information on participants, such as demographics (age, gender, financial and others), past behaviors and predicting future behavior, according to the personal beliefs of each participant, using also theMarital Adjustment Scale of Spanier (DSS - Dyadic Satisfaction Scale, 1976). The sample comprised 35 participants, 16 men and 19 women, mean age 36.80 years, with average deviation of 10.253, while 9 were followers of the neo- Pentecostal, 10 and 16 traditional church of the Pentecostal church, being subdivided into groups in relation to marital satisfaction. We work with the theme of marital satisfaction as the key as the present work, corroborated with the most points already stated in previous research, with emphasis on gender relations as a variable differential marital, surprising the greater number of women satisfied with respect tomen, the influence of religion can be seen in relation to paternal identification models, acting as a support network and training for moral and ethical values. The kinds of conflict and ways of facing the evangelical sample is similar to that of couples, regardless of religious variable / Pesquisadores têm estudado sobre a interface da religião nos casamentos, identificando-se que a filiação religiosa pode ser um fator importante para a relação conjugal. A proposta desta dissertação foi de levantar elementos que favorecessem problematizar temas de satisfação conjugal e de conflitos entre pessoas casadas e evangélicas, de modo a obter material para orientação e desenvolvimento de programas de qualidade de vida conjugal. Para isso foram utilizados questionários para obter informações sobre os participantes, tais como, dados demográficos (idade, gênero, financeiro dentre outros), comportamentos passados e previsão de comportamentos futuros, de acordo com as crenças pessoais de cada participante, utilizando-se também a Escala de Ajustamento Conjugal de Spanier, (DSS - Dyadic Satisfaction Scale, 1976). A amostra foi composta por 35 participantes, 16 homens e 19 mulheres, com idade média de 36,80 anos, com desvio médio de 10,253, sendo que 9 eram seguidores da corrente neo-pentecostal, 10 de igreja tradicional e 16 da igreja pentecostal, sendo sub-divididos em grupos em relação à satisfação conjugal. Trabalhamos com a temática da satisfação conjugal como elemento central tendo o presente trabalho, corroborado com a maioria dos aspectos já afirmados em pesquisas anteriores, com destaque para as relações de gênero como variável diferencial da conjugalidade, surpreendendo o número maior de mulheres satisfeitas em relação aos homens, a influência da religião pode ser notada no que se refere aos modelos paternos de identificação, atuando como rede de apoio e formação de valores morais e éticos. Em relação aos tipos de conflito e formas de enfrentamento a amostra evangélica é similar aos dados de casais, independente da variável religiosa

With the rising age of marriage and previous research failing to address a more detailed look at more descriptive measures of satisfaction, the current study examined the association between age of first marriage and marital stability, satisfaction, sexual satisfaction and frequency, effective communication, conflict, and problem areas. Results from a sample of 470 participants who completed the RELATE Questionnaire indicated that across the board, those who married from ages 20-24 had better marital outcomes than those who delayed marriage until their thirties and beyond. These results fit a possible theory of explanation that when it comes to age of marriage, a "balanced is better" approach may be more beneficial to couples when it comes to successful marriages.

The growing population of the United States is linked to the increasing migration of individuals from other countries. With migration comes the development of cross-cultural and interracial romantic relationships, many leading to marriages. This qualitative grounded theory study sought to understand how a migrant partner's adjustment process, acculturation, contributes to cross-cultural marriages. The main research question and purpose of this study was to investigate the role of acculturation in marital satisfaction among mixed Caucasian and Asian American heterosexual couples. This study utilized multiple data sources and a purposive sampling of 11 mixed Asian and Caucasian heterosexual married couples, with one partner who identified themselves as being Caucasian and U.S. born, and the other as Asian American and an immigrant to the United States. Data were coded and analyzed to identify themes and patterns that emerged from the participants' experiences. The study revealed the following emergent themes representing the couples' common acculturative stressors: (a) challenges related to English language proficiency, (b) communication styles differences, (c) cultural learning, and (d) difficulties due to the lack of social support. The findings of this study provide marriage and family counselors with important data related to how married couples experience acculturation as well as the unique stressors associated with a migrating partner's process. Implications for positive social change include information related to the development of interventions to address common acculturative stressors identified during this study, as well as data to support clinicians and clients when identifying appropriate coping strategies.

The main purpose of the present study was to compare marital satisfaction among marital status (first married, post-divorce remarried and post-bereavement remarried) and gender. In addition, the current study aimed to investigate the effect of stepchildren on marital satisfaction of remarried individuals. Besides, it was also aimed to investigate the predictive power of demographic and contextual variables on marital satisfaction of first married families, of post-divorce remarried families, of post bereavement remarried families, and of those who had stepchildren. Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) and Demographic Information Form were administered 116 first married and 223 remarried individuals. To test the hypotheses of the study ANOVA, ANCOVA, and Stepwise Multiple Regression Analyses were performed. Results revealed that men had higher level of marital satisfaction than women. However, there was no significant difference between the marital satisfaction of first married individuals, post-divorce remarried individuals, and post-bereavement remarried individuals. It was also found that remarried individuals with residential stepchildren had lower marital satisfaction than remarried individuals with non-residential stepchildren and those without stepchildren. In addition, results yielded that for first married individuals length of marriage and income / for post-divorce remarried individuals gender and presence of mutual children / for post-bereavement remarried individuals length of current marriage and income / and for those with stepchildren only residence of stepchildren significantly predicted marital satisfaction. The findings of the study were discussed in the light of relevant literature

Submitted by Ana Carla Almeida (ana.almeida@ucsal.br) on 2016-11-16T12:57:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Mirna 13 revisado entrega revisado (2).pdf: 607671 bytes, checksum: ba5949376485608fdf074fd539f865ca (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rosemary Magalhães (rosemary.magalhaes@ucsal.br) on 2017-01-13T14:32:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Mirna 13 revisado entrega revisado (2).pdf: 607671 bytes, checksum: ba5949376485608fdf074fd539f865ca (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-13T14:32:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Mirna 13 revisado entrega revisado (2).pdf: 607671 bytes, checksum: ba5949376485608fdf074fd539f865ca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-19 / O presente estudo caracteriza e analisa a história de casais que apresentam diagnóstico de disfunção sexual masculina. Parte-se da hipótese de que a satisfação conjugal, avaliada a partir de uma perspectiva individual, não é suficiente para revelar os processos desses casais, pois a observação revela que não obstante as queixas de insatisfação sexual a união entre eles fica preservada uma vez que os casais valorizam o amor, afeto e desenvolvimento de afinidades entre os cônjuges ao longo do casamento. Foram entrevistados quatro pares, encaminhados por profissionais da área de saúde para acompanhamento psicoterápico com a pesquisadora com enfoque sexual. Eles foram selecionados com base nos seguintes critérios de inclusão: casais de dupla carreira; união heterossexual; diagnóstico de disfunção masculina; relacionamento com cerca de dez anos de existência; de filhos; nível socioeducacional médio. Aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa, o estudo observou os requisitos da pesquisa com seres humanos. As entrevistas em profundidade seguiram um temário construído especialmente para essa investigação, que contempla categorias sistêmicas que visam reconstituir a história do casal, a história do casamento, a história sexual e perspectivas para o futuro. As categorias são: eventos críticos, conflitos, estratégias para divisão de tarefas, significados do casal sobre satisfação conjugal e satisfação sexual. Os conteúdos produzidos por cada casal foram analisados com base nessas categorias e os resultados foram discutidos com base a visão masculina e feminina em relação à temática, fazendo uma análise comparativa dos dados obtidos com a literatura nacional e internacional. / The present essay describes and the history of marital couples analyzes who have a diagnosis of male sexual dysfunction. It starts with the hypothesis that marital satisfaction, ]assessed from an individual perspective, is not enough to reveal the processes of these couples, because observation reveals that despite the complaints of sexual dissatisfaction marriage between them is preserved as other circunstances, such as love,.affection andaffinities, play a significant role in presening the marital status. In order to explore the dynamics of marital couples, four pairs were interviewed according to the following inclusion criteria: dual-career couples; heterosexual union; Diagnosis of male dysfunction; relationship with about ten years of existence; of children; middle social and educational level. Approved by the ethics committee for research the study strictly observed the requirements of human research. The depth interviews occurred from an agenda specially created for this research; the agenda includes systemic categories that aim to reconstruct the history of the couple, history of marriage, sexual history and future prospects. These categories are: mutual concept of marital and sexual satisfaction. The results were analyzed based on these categories and were discussed from both, male and female vision of the theme by making an investigative analysis of data obtained from the national and international literature.

This thesis pursues the topic of satisfaction in romantic relationships. The previous research was focused mainly on unhappy relationships, marital crises and divorce. This thesis follows the other direction. Its aim is to describe variables which make longterm romantic relationships satisfying. In the theoretical part is an overview of literature and researches that adressed this topic. In the empirical part of this thesis is qualitative research that tries to enlighten the specifics of happy couples in Czech Republic. The grounded theory was used to analyze interviews with 22 respondents. The results are 10 categories representing various areas that contributed to satisfaction in respondents' relationships: harmony, safety, good choice of spouse, stable financial situation, family, overcoming of differences and obstacles, doing things together, communication, endurance and trying not to solve everything.