Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Clinical Psychology) in the Department of Psychology University of Zululand, 2002. / The main aim of this study was to investigate factors that contribute to marital satisfaction. The first aim related to these factors was to determine whether respondent demographics (gender, duration of marriage and presence of children) influence martial satisfaction. The second aim was to determine the extent to which the individual is satisfied with his/her marriage. The third aim was to establish an association between sexual satisfaction and marital satisfaction. The fourth aim was to determine the extent to which the perception of fairness in the division of labour contributes to marital satisfaction. To achieve these aims, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a sample of married individuals. The hypothesis that there would be no relationship between respondent demographics and marital satisfaction was upheld for gender and the presence of children, but was rejected for the number of years married. It was hypothesized that more respondents would report that they are not satisfied with their marriage than are satisfied with their marriage. This hypothesis was not supported by the statistical analyses and the findings of the study. Statistical analysis rejected the hypothesis that there is no relationship between marital satisfaction and sexual satisfaction. A significantly higher percentage of individuals who were satisfied with their marriage were also satisfied with their sexual relationship. This proved also to be true for those who were not satisfied with their marital and sexual relationship. The hypothesis that there is no relationship between the perception of fairness in the division of household labour and marital satisfaction was not supported by statistical analysis. The above findings indicate that the aims of the study were met.

The problem of this study was to investigate the relationship between attitudes of love and marital adjustment through seven stages of the marital life cycle. The purpose of the investigation was to determine the changes which occur in attitude toward love and marital adjustment through the marital life cycle. The average number of subjects in each of the seven marital groups was 16, for a total of 114 couples or 228 subjects. All subjects were volunteers from three North Texas church populations. Test data for each of the seven marital groups consisted of husbands" and wives' scores on the Marital Adjustment Test and the Love Attitudes Inventory.

This study investigated the relationship of certain independent variables and young married couples' attitudes toward children. Church leaders in Plano, Texas, administered the Hereford Parent Attitude Survey to couples from their churches. Ninety-seven subjects comprised the main sample group. The data were analyzed using t-tests and f-tests. Women had more positive attitudes toward children than men. Parents had more positive attitudes than childless subjects. Childless subjects who plan to have children had more positive attitudes toward children than subjects who did not plan to have children or who were not sure. Income level was related to confidence in parenting. Age and sex of children and education level were not related to attitudes toward children. Based on these findings, recommendations were made for future research and education.

The present study was an attempt to further investigate what factors contributed to whether married individuals defined their relationship as traditional or nontraditional. The project, moreover, explored what variables affected marital adjustment levels. The variables whose effects were assessed regarding whether married individuals defined their relationship as traditional or nontraditional included self-actualization and presence or absence of children. The factors examined thought to affect marital adjustment levels were self-actualization, subjective definition of the relationship as traditional or nontraditional, and presence or absence of children.