Gender and marital satisfaction

This study examined whether husbands report higher marital satisfaction than their wives and a social exchange definition of marital satisfaction (marital satisfaction is equal to marital outcomes minus marital expectations). Spouses from 54 couples completed Sabatelli's Marital Comparison Level Index which requested they rate 32 items according to how their actual marital experience compares with their expectations. These same 32 items also were administered on three other occasions as independent measures of outcomes, expectations, and importance. Results revealed no differences between husbands and wives on any of four measures of marital satisfaction. Neither were there significant differences between husbands and wives on measures of outcomes and expectations. However, wives scored higher than husbands on the measure of importance and, when outcomes and expectations were weighted with importance, wives scored higher than husbands on weighted outcomes and weighted expectations. Also, when a researcher-calculated measure of the discrepancy between outcomes and expectations was used as a measure of marital satisfaction and regressed on outcomes and gender, gender moderated the influence of outcomes. The positive relationship between marital outcomes and satisfaction (researcher-calculated measure) was stronger for wives than husbands. It was concluded that gender influences assessments of marital outcomes and expectations through importance as a part of the contextual, perceptual frameworks which individuals use when considering these variables. However, marital satisfaction may not be defined adequately as the discrepancy between outcomes and expectations, and Sabatelli's MCLI may not be an accurate measure of discrepancy. In agreement with previous research, outcomes was found to be the best predictor of marital satisfaction.