Perceptual accuracy as a variable in marital adjustment.

Abstract

This study investigated the ability of maritally-adjusted couples, couples attaining a divorce, and couples in counseling to predict the rewarding effects of their behavior on their spouse. Twenty-six couples, five obtaining a divorce, nine in counseling, and twelve adjusted couples completed a Marital Interaction Questionnaire in which they rated how rewarding each of the behaviors depicted was to them. Then each member predicted how rewarding it was to their spouse. Behaviors depicting six areas of marital interaction were included in the questionnaire. The computed perceptual accuracy scores were analyzed by a three-way classification-Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)-for unequal n's. This analysis yielded a significant main effect of marital status and a significant interaction between marital status by sex of spouse and between marital status by area of interaction. The maritally-adjusted group was always more accurate than the other two groups in their predictions, however, they were significantly more accurate only for selected areas of interaction.