One interesting aspect of the Moynihan Report which has not been investigated further is the relationship between yearly fluctuations in the unemployment rate and the rate of marital instability. This relationship ceased to exist in nonwhites in the early 1960's. A number of possible explanations are explored. (Author)

A controlled study involving group selection of content material to be role-played, videotape feedback of the role-playing situation, and effects on the self-image of disturbed marital couples is presented. A follow-up gives evidence that such a procedure may produce a high "casualty" rate in disturbed married couples.

Systematic training in interpersonal communication skills was conducted with partners in deteriorated marriages who acknowledged a low level of communication as a major problem. The results indicated that trained couples improved significantly in their interpersonal skills and in their ability to elicit self-exploration from their spouse. The…

A woman who had from childhood suffered from neurotic anxieties of an interpersonal kind had for 10 years been plagued with insistent and fruitless negative thoughts about herself. This transcript deals mainly with her objections to the technique of thought stopping and the efforts that were made to overcome them. (Author)

Consequences of early marriage are reviewed and stated as three propositions involving social class placement following marriage, divorce rate, and negative affect. Three derived propositions are obtained from these. Theoretical family propositions are related to exchange theory and shown to be special cases of it. Presented at American…

This study discusses how many persons have had multiple marriages and have been divorced; length of time between marriages and the probability of marriage; and divorce, widowhood and remarriage by various social and economic characteristics based on marital history information from the Survey of Economic Opporutnity. (Author/CG)

There are four prominent common law defenses to a divorce suit. They are condonation, recrimination, collusion, and connivance. The defense of condonation should be abolished because it obstructs reconciliation. (Author/BY)

Findings suggest that unhappy marriage is a disability, analogous to minority race, economic deprivation or physical illness. (Author)

Evaluated the effectiveness of behavioral marital therapy (BMT) in aiding distressed couples (N=30) and explored the relative effectiveness of cotherapists versus single therapist. Results affirmed the overall effectiveness of BMT. A cotherapy team and a single therapist were equally effective. No differences were found between immediate therapy…

Tested the relevance of the personal space concept when applied to marital relationships. Married couples (N=24) completed five questionnaires. Results showed that the personal space concept did apply, i.e., distance between couples increased as marital quality decreased. A stop-distance measure discriminated between distressed and non-distressed…

Tested the hypothesis that the inverse relationship between marital happiness and disruption will be strong under conditions of high marital alternatives and weak under conditions of low marital alternatives. Used micro data from a sample of 400 White, urban, American couples. Found no support for the hypothesis. (Author/RC)

Data from seven recent American national surveys found that persons remarried after divorce had rather high levels of reported well-being, but never-remarried women reported lower aggregate marital happiness than never-divorced married women or never-remarried men; the difference was not explained by race, age, or socioeconomic variables.…

Dissatisfied and satisfied couples were administered a marital satisfaction questionnaire, and were observed in their homes. There was: (1) a high level of stability and discriminant validity for several behavior codes; (2) discriminant validity for questionnaires; and (3) a moderate degree of self-reported reactivity to observation. (Author)

Couples (N=46) expecting their first child completed the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale and the Bem Sex Role Inventory during the last trimester of the wife's pregnancy and again after the birth of the baby. Results indicated that wives' marital adjustment scores were significantly lower following the birth. (Author)