The purpose of this research is to clarify, summarize, and logically integrate all the major premarital and marital determinants of affect (positive or negative) that appeared in research articles of the major journals during the time period 1980-1992. The findings are presented in the form of second-order propositions in chapter four. There are one-hundred and forty-one second-order propositions synthesizing the findings of two-hundred and ninety-one first-order propositions which constitute the propositional summaries of two-hundred and ninety-one articles. The findings of these articles were considered to be significant and relevant for the present study, and were taken from a total pool of six-hundred and ninety-seven articles. / Master of Science

Husbands and wives of 67 couples described themselves on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, described their spouses on an altered form of this test, and completed the Locke-Wallace Short Marital Adjustment Test. Results for each man were matched to a woman's results based on socio-cultrual similarity to create a comparison group of nonmarried couples. A chi-square test indicated that related spouses of the married group did not have more similar personalities than unrelated partners in the comparison group. An F-test suggested that actually, interspousal personality similarity affects marital adjustment for both sexes, but it is not affected by perceived similarity. Accuracy of perception on the introversion-extraversion scale had a positive effect on the marital adjustment of wives, but not of husbands.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to compare various attributes of never-married single men and women to married men and women. The Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis, the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B) Scale, and the Personal Skills Map were completed by 138 never-married singles and 139 married volunteers, both male and female. Volunteers were predominantly Caucasian, Protestant, active in their churches, and college educated. Ages ranged from 30 to 39 years. Married volunteers were married only once for five years or more. A step-wise discriminant analysis was run on each of the three instruments to determine which variables were significant across groupings. Summary conclusions were made showing that never-married men and women were more socially energetic but less expressive and responsive than were married men and women. Single men, as compared to married men, were also more passive and saw themselves in a less favorable light. Single women, when compared to married women, were also more dominant. Single women, when compared to single men, were more relaxed and more assertive, but more critical and punitive. An implication for counselors is that never-married single people may need help with relating at a deeper level of vulnerability and personableness. Single men may need help in interpersonal assertiveness as well as in personal openness and transparency. Single women may need help in resolving some of their hostilities. Further research is needed to explore the possible factors contributing to the guardedness of singles, the passivity of men, and the hostility of women. More work needs to be done in the area of causality.