Self-disclosure in satisfactorily married and remarried couples

Self-disclosure has been widely studied as a mediator of several important dimensions of marriage, including interpersonal perceptions, conflict resolution, and intimacy. Approximately 55% of marriages end in divorce, but about 80% of those people remarry. Despite this prevalent phenomenon, and the comparative study of other types of marriage (e.g., single versus dual career couples), self-disclosure has not been studied in first versus remarriages.

An under used and valuable research method is phenomenology, which describes the structure of peoples' experience. This study combines observations of self-disclosure in satisfactory first and remarriages and a phenomenological study of what it takes to make a satisfactory marriage.

Satisfactory first and remarriages were found to be similar in terms of disclosing more positive than negative material, disclosing more about the self than the spouse, and disclosing more unaffectively toned information on instrumental versus person perception questions. Remarried couples were found to show somewhat more negative and somewhat less positive disclosure than first married couples. Nine themes about the constituents of satisfactory marriage were found in the interviews of the two groups. The interplay of these themes is discussed.