Date Awarded

1986

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether either the Couple Communication II Program developed by Miller, Nunnally, and Wackman or a Family of Origin Workshop developed by the author when used following the Couple Communication I Programs would increase marital satisfaction and individual autonomy.;Thirty-four individuals (seventeen couples) responded to the announcements of a couple communication and marriage enrichment workshop. The couples were assigned to four groups: Group 1 was treated with the Couple Communication I Program only, Group 2 was treated with the Couple Communication I Program and Couple Communication II, Group 3 was treated with the Couple Communication I Program and a Family of Origin Workshop, and Group 4 was a no treatment control group.;All subjects were measured by a pretest, posttest and follow-up test using the Marital Satisfaction Inventory by Snyder and an autonomy scale developed by Kurtines for the California Psychological Inventory.;No significant correlation was found between autonomy and marital satisfaction scores. There were no significant differences found among or between the groups after treatment. There were no significant differences among or between the pretest, posttest, and follow-up scores. A scale on the Marital Satisfaction Inventory designed to measure subjects' tendency to distort the appraisal of their marriages in a socially desired direction was found to be a significant covariate of all Marital Satisfaction Inventory scales.;Further study is needed to evaluate the relationship between specific communication skills learned, as determined by behavioral measures, and specific areas of marital satisfaction, as assessed by self-report measures. Study is needed to evaluate conclusions of previous studies of relationship satisfaction that have not been controlled for the tendency of subjects to distort their appraisals.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25774/w4-5tj9-1339

Rights

© The Author

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