Graduate student couples were surveyed to determine what effects their sex, graduate status, or level of marital satisfaction had on their attributions of stability, controllability, and locus of causality. There were 242 participants. Of the total, 93 couples returned questionnaires. An additional 56 individuals returned questionnaires without their spouses. The Dyadic Adjustment Scale was utilized to determine each participant's level of marital satisfaction, and the Causal Dimension Scale was used to measure their attributions about their marital satisfaction. Two research designs were developed to organize the data for analysis. The first ANOVA focused on couple dyads, while the second included all participants who returned questionnaires.In the analysis for design one, there was no support for the first hypothesis which stated that graduate students compared to non-graduate students will differ in the type of attributions they report. Support was found, however, for the second hypothesis which stated that satisfied and dissatisfied couples will differ in the type of attributions they report. Partial support was also discovered for the third hypothesis which stated that husbands will differ from wives in the locus of causality, stability, and controllability of their attributions. A significant effect was found for only the attributions of stability and controllability. There was no effect found for locus of causality. Husbands whose wives were satisfied reported more stable and more controllable attributions for their satisfaction than did husbands who were dissatisfied regardless of their wives' level of satisfaction. Wives who were satisfied and married to satisfied husbands along with dissatisfied wives married to satisfied husbands reported more controllable attributions than did wives who were married to dissatisfied husbands. Also, wives who were satisfied and married to either satisfied or dissatisfied husbands made more stable attributions than dissatisfied wives married to dissatisfied husbands.In design two, an ANOVA was conducted to investigate the following hypotheses: (4) Males will vary from females in locus, stability, and controllability attributions; (5) Satisfied and dissatisfied spouses will differ in locus, stability, and controllability attributions; and (6) Graduate students as compared to non-graduate students will differ in locus, stability, and controllability attributions.No support was obtained for the fourth hypothesis. Results did confirm, however, the fifth hypothesis. Satisfied individuals made more stable, controllable, and internal attributions about their marital satisfaction than did dissatisfied individuals. Also, partial support was found for the sixth hypothesis but only for the attribution of locus of causality. Male graduate students as compared to female graduate students made more internal attributions. Additionally, male non-graduate students made more internal attributions as compared to female graduate students.All of these results are discussed in relation to previous research on marital satisfaction and causal attributions. Implications for counseling graduate student couples are also mentioned as are methodological limitations of the current project. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/176862 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Hood, Ronald R. |
| Contributors | Gerstein, Lawrence H. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | ii, 95 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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