Discusses the fast growing profession of mediation for couples undergoing separation and divorce. Discusses questions of consumers concerning how the process works, how long it takes, and its costs and questions of professionals, concerning the process, the qualifications of mediators, and referral for mediation. (Author/ABB)

Examined factors influencing the decisions of 251 battered women to leave their partners. Results showed women who left had had shorter relationships and were more likely employed and non-White. Women who stayed with their assailants cited love, economic hardship, and belief the abuser would change as reasons. (JAC)

Introduces social judgment theory as a potentially useful theoretical and methodological tool for understanding marital conflict. A computerized procedure is described for identification, measurement, and reporting of judgmental sources of marital conflict and for differentiation of apparent and actual conflict, illustrated by a case study. (JAC)

Notes the inconsistent findings that characterize research on marital instability and proposes several potential methodological sources of these inconsistencies. Presents an illustrative application to data from two recent national representative probability samples. (JAC)

Tested Lewis and Spanier's theory of marital quality and marital stability using a sample of 131 married and 166 divorced social survey respondents. Examined the relationship between the quality and stability of their marriages and assessed the influence of alternative attractions and external pressures to remain married. (JAC)

Author presented the case against the institution of a no-fault divorce law. (RK)

John L. Schimel, M.D. moderates a discussion by three young married couples concerning areas of possible sexual conflict. (CG)

In an interview, a marriage counselor answers questions concerning sex in marriage. He concludes that sex alone is too narrow a base for a marriage to rest upon and for a successful marriage, there is a need for a deeper basis of companionship. (Author/CG)

The "nonzero sum" noncooperative Prisoner's Dilemma game was used to study marital conflict. Among the results were that: (1) personality characteristics were more predictive of conflict behavior for wives while person perception characteristics were more predictive for husbands; and (2) both sexes tended to exhibit conflict behavior. (Author)

Discusses a study to determine if a predictable pattern of adjustment, common among couples in which the wife was a doctoral student, could be anticipated and plotted. Makes recommendations for facilitating progress and providing support for students during stressful periods. (JOW)

This study examines relationships between measures of empathy, communication, and marital adjustment and seeks information descriptive of the nature of empathy and of communication of maritally adjusted and maritally maladjusted couples. (CT)

Spouses frequently depict changes in important aspects of marital relationships as threats to the permanence of those relationships. However, the effects on permanence are better explained in terms of the partners' viewpoints or ways of interpreting the changes. Six common polarities of viewpoint illustrate this point. (Author)

This paper incorporates relevant knowledge about adult development into an understanding of marital conflict, suggests hypotheses to be explored in the marital evaluation and subsequent therapy, and illustrates the concepts presented with case material. (Author)

Examined simultaneous effects of multiple indicators of wife's employment on marital disruption for women (N=1,798) who first married between 1968 and 1982. Results indicated the rate and timing of marital disruption was negatively related to wife's income and positively related to number of hours worked per week and amount of premarital work…

Reviews research on premarital factors associated with later marital quality and stability in first marriages. Three major categories of factors are described, including background and context, individual traits and behaviors, and couple interactional processes. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal research are summarized. Recommendations for…