The central concern in this research study was marital commitment. It was argued from a social exchange theoretical perspective that marital commitment is composed of two dimensions, normative marital commitment and interpersonal marital commitment. The specific research question looked at how five independent variables (sex, race, socio-economic status, presence or absence of children, and religiosity) were related to differing degrees of normative marital commitment and interpersonal marital commitment. / The first step in this research project was to establish a theoretical base from which to draw hypotheses. Because little has been done on marital commitment, theoretically or empirically, the building had to start with a definition of commitment itself. In this study commitment was defined as (1) a decision to follow a course of action and (2) acting on that decision over a period of time. The definition of the other major concepts (marital commitment, normative marital commitment, and interpersonal marital commitment) built around that basic skeleton definition. A discussion of a possible explanation for the forming of marital commitment and its two dimensions begins what is hoped will be a first step in a theoretical model of marital commitment. / Ten hypotheses were tested with a survey-type, exploratory, cross-sectional research design. The sample consisted of 188 persons (94 couples). These were drawn from the Florida State University married student housing complex. Individual responses formed the unit of analysis. There was an 89% return rate for the 33-item questionnaire. The instrument used for measuring interpersonal marital commitment and normative marital commitment was a modification of the Clodfelter Marital Commitment Scale. / Major conclusions to be drawn from this study include (1) females in this study scored significantly higher than males on the interpersonal marital commitment scale; (2) persons high on religiosity (as measured by attendance at church) scored significantly higher on the normative marital commitment scale than persons who were not high on religiosity; and (3) persons high on religiosity scored significantly lower on the interpersonal marital commitment scale than persons low on religiosity. These conclusions need to be tempered with the fact that this was an exploratory study done with a very homogeneous sample. / The contribution this study makes is both theoretical and empirical. Theoretically, a preliminary step is taken toward an explanation of why marital commitment and its two dimensions may occur and the possible consequences of marital commitment. / Empirically, the construction of two scales to measure interpersonal marital commitment and normative marital commitment will hopefully provide a springboard for further refinement and elaboration of measuring devices. Also, this study points to sex and religiosity as key variables to consider in any study of marital commitment. / Several suggestions are included for further research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-11, Section: A, page: 4850. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74352 |
| Contributors | KIMMONS, NANCY ROUTH., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 161 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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