Table Of ContentDOCUMENT RESUME
CG 025 993
ED 379 555
Bloser, Edward Charles
AUTHOR
The Relationship between Marital Adjustment and
TITLE
Sibling Constellation.
PUB DATE
93
NOTE
97p.
Research/Technical (143)
PUB TYPE
Reports
MF01/PC04 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
*Birth Order; Family (Sociological Unit); *Family
DESCRIPTORS
Influence; Family Size; Family Structure; Marital
Instability; *Marital Satisfaction; Marriage
Counseling; *Sibling Relationship
Complementarity; Locke Wallace Marital Adjustment
IDENTIFIERS
Scale; *Marital Adjustment; *Marital Therapy
ABSTRACT
The conflict in research that exists between the
relationship of marital adjustment and sibling constellation is
examined her.>. The belief that the combination of birth order and
gender (sibling constellation) is important, is not only a part of
folk wisdom but it is a continuing point of view in the literature of
marital and family therapy. Data from 250 married subjects were
separated into three categories of marital complementarity and
relationships and associations were analyzed on the basis of
composite scores on the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test, the
number of marriages, and the length of each marriage. The results
indicate that the structure of the family of origin has no
relationship with current marital adjustment. Across all degrees of
complementarity, martial adjustment scores, including happiness, were
almost equal. Marital discord, therefore, does not lie in the number
ana gender of siblings with which one was raised; birth order as a
factor in marital adjustment must be eliminated. The findings should
form the basis cf counselor education courses that focus on
counseling couples who show signs of marital discord. (RJM)
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*
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
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ADJUSTMENT
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARITAL
AND SIBLING CONSTELLATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS
Office of Educational Research and improvement
MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
E. 5tosE
CENTER (ERIC)
P This document has been reproduced as
received born the person or organization
originating it
P Minor changes have been made to improve
reproduction quality
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
Points of view or opinions staled in this docu-
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
ment do not necessarily represent official
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC).-
OERI position or policy
.
.
Copyright © 1993 by Edward Charles Bloser
All rights reserved
3
ABSTRACT
This research examined the conflict in the literature that
exists about the
relationship of marital adjustment to sibling constellation.
Adlerians propose
that there are certain learned, yet almost inherent qualities
about an individual's
birth order that determine whether
a particular relationship will endure and
whether the partners will be happy. The belief that the
combination of birth
order and gender (sibling constellation) is important,
is not only a part of our
folk wisdom but is a continuing point of view in the
literature of marital and
family therapy.
Walter Toman (1961) is the chief proponent for the duplication
theory that
"the closer the new relationships
come in kind to .)1d ones
the better will the
. .
.
person be prepared for the new ones, and the greater their likelihood to last and
to be happy and successful" (p. 6). Two studies conducted by Weller,
Natan, and
Hazi in 1974 and 1975 confirmed Toman's theory.
However, other researchers
and sociologists, such as Termari (1938), Forer (1969), and
Birtchnell Eald Mayhew
(1977), maintain that there is no basis for marital adjustment
in sibling birth order
and gender.
Data from two hundred fifty married subjects
were separated into the
three categories of marital complementarity proposed by
Toman (1961) and rela-
tionships and associations
were examined on the basis of (1) composite scores on
the Locke- Wallace Marital Adjustment Test
(LWMAT), (2) the number of
marriages, and (3) the length of each marriage. Testing
revealed that the "ideal"
couples of the first degree, scored exactly the
same as those of the third degree.
Toman's theory did not stand
up to the rigorous test of a standardized
iii
4
instrument, long used to empirically measure marital adjustment.
Results
revealed that 78% of those in the first degree had
one marriage while 82% of
those in the third degree of complementarity had only
one marriage. Those in
the second degree of complementarity had longer marriages than those
in the
first degree, and the couples in the third degree had the longest marriages of
all.
In a counseling setting, when couples present with marital adjustment
problems, one area that need not be investigated is birth order and
sibling
constellation--it makes no difference. There
may be a reason for marital discord,
but it is not found in the number and gender of siblings with whom
one was
raised.
Birth order is not an ingredient of marital adjustment. The findings
should form the basis of counselor education
course content that focus on
counseling couples showing signs of marital discord.
iv
5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1
Background and Rationale of the Study
1
Problem Statement
3
Definition of Terms
4
Hypotheses
5
Limits of the Study
7
CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED Ll I ERATURE
8
Introduction.
8
Marital Adjustment
8
Marital Adjustment, Birth Order, and
Sibling Constellations
9
Agreements with Toman.
12
Theoretical and Empirical Disagreements with Toman
14
Divorce
15
Measurement of Marital Adjustment
20
Components
21
Research Using the Locke-Wallace
Marital Adjustment Test
21
Summary
23
CHAPTER 3
PROCEDURES FOR DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
24
Population
24
Method and Procedures
26
Data
26
Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test
27
Reliability
27
Validity
27
Scoring
28
Research Design and Analysis of the Data
28
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
30
Complementarity as Indicated by Scores on the
Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test
30
Hypothesis One
30
Hypothesis Two
31
Complemecitarity and the Number of Marriages
33
Hypothesis Three
33
Hypothesis Four
33
Complementarity and the Number of Marriages
33
Hypothesis Five
34
Hypothesis Six
36
Summary
37
vi
CHAPTER 5
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
38
Complementarity and Marital Satisfaction
as Indicated by Composite Scores on the
Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test
38
Complementarity and the Number of Marriages
40
Complementarity and the Length of Marriage
40
Marital Adjustment and Culture
41
Age and Marital Adjustment
42
Conclusions and Recommendations
for Further Research.
43
REFERENCES
45
APPENDICES
55
VITA
81
vii
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE
PAGE
Classification of Marital Constellations
1.
11
Summary Outline of 354 Reasons Why Couples Break Up
2.
18
Demographic Information about the Respondents
3.
25
Scores on the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test
4.
by Degrees of Complementarity with the Five Year Rule Applied
31
ANOVA Summary Table for Comparing Degree of Marital Configuration
5.
to Composite Scores on the LWMAT, Using the Five Year Rule
31
Scores on the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test by Degree of
6.
Complementarity, with the Five Year Rule Di. regarded
32
ANOVA Summary Table for Comparing Degree of Marital
7.
Configuration to Composite Scores on the LWMAT,
with the Five Year Rule Disregarded
32
Number of Marriages by Degree of Complementarily
8.
Used in Hypothesis Three, with the Five Year Rule Applied
33
Number of Marriages by Degree of Complementarity
9.
Used in Hypothesis Three, with the Five Year Rule Disregarded
34
Number and Average Length of Marriage by Degree of Complementarily,
10.
with the Five Year Rule Applied
viii
a
ANOVA Summary Table for Comparing Degree of Marital
11.
Configuration to Average Length of Marriage,
with the Five Year Rule Applied
Number and Average Length of Marriage by Degree of Complementarity,
12.
with the Five Year Rule Disregarded
ANOVA Summary Table for comparing Degree of Marital
13.
Configuration to Average Length of Marriage,
with the Five Year Rule Disregarded
Scores on the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test by Degree of
14.
Complementarity, with and without the Five Year Rule
Number of Marriages by Degree of Complementarity,
15.
Used in Hypotheses Three and Four, with the Five Year
Rule Applied and Disregarded
Average Length of Marriage by Degree of Complementarily,
16.
with the without the Five Year Rule
10
