Marital adjustment, idealization, and conventionalization

199 Pages·2016·3.42 MB·English

by  Gary Lee Hansen

Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and
Retrospective Theses and Dissertations
Dissertations
1978
Marital adjustment, idealization, and
conventionalization
Gary Lee Hansen
Iowa State University
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Recommended Citation
Hansen, Gary Lee, "Marital adjustment, idealization, and conventionalization " (1978).Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 6552.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/6552
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University Microfilms international
300 North Zeeb Road
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7903979
HANSEN, GARY LEE
MARITAL ADJUSTMENT, IDEALIZATION, AMD
CONVENTIDNALIZATION.
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY, PH.D., I97S
International soon, zeeb road, amn arbor. wMsioe
Marital adjustment, idealization, and conventionalization
by
Gary Lee Hansen
A Dissertation Submitted to the
Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of
The Requirements for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department: Sociology and Anthropology
Major: Sociology
Approved:
Signature was redacted for privacy.
In Charge of Major Work
Signature was redacted for privacy.
Signature was redacted for privacy.
For the Graduate College
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
1978
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER II. THEORETICAL ORIENTATION 7
Theoretical Strategy 7
Social Construction of Reality 8
Social Comparison Theory 9
Attribution Theory 11
Consistency Theories 15
Hypotheses 18
CHAPTER III. METHODS AND PROCEDURES 21
Population 21
Sample 22
Method of Data Collection 23
Development of the Questionnaire 28
Social and demographic variables 28
Marital conventionalization 32
Marital adjustment 34
Marital idealization 36
Social desirability 39
Anomie 40
"Dummy" items 40
Pretest of the questionnaire 41
Questionnaire format 41
Methods of Statistical Analysis 42
Summary 43
CHAPTER IV. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SAMPLE 44
Summary 56
iii
Page
CHAPTER V. FINDINGS 59
Distribution of Scale Scores 59
Summary 61
Tests of Hypotheses 62
Summary 78
Social and Demographic Variables 79
Marital conventionalization (true/false format) 79
Marital conventionalization (forced-choice format) 80
Affectional expression 80
Dyadic satisfaction 81
Dyadic consensus 82
Dyadic cohesion 83
Marital adjustment 84
Anomie 85
Social desirability ' 86
Idealized attributional style 86
Marital idealization 87
Summary 87
CHAPTER VI. DISCUSSION AND FURTHER ANALYSIS 88
Discussion of Hypotheses Testing 88
Further Analysis 92
Summary 102
CHAPTER VII. CONCLUSIONS 104
Limitations and Suggestions for Further Research 104
Restatement of Major Findings and Conclusions 106
REFERENCES 108
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 114
APPENDIX A: LETTER TO RESPONDENTS 115
APPENDIX B: QUESTIONNAIRE 117
IV
Page
APPENDIX C: MARITAL CONVENTIONALIZATION ITEMS (FORCED-CHOICE
FORMAT) 132
APPENDIX D: FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS OF MARITAL CONVENTIONALIZA­
TION, MARITAL ADJUSTMENT, MARITAL IDEALIZATION,
IDEALIZED ATTRIBUTIONAL STYLE, SOCIAL DESIRABILITY,
AND ANOMIE SCORES 135
APPENDIX E: MAJOR VARIABLES AS FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL AND DEMO­
GRAPHIC VARIABLES (SIGNIFICANT RELATIONS FOR MALES,
FEMALES, AND TOTAL SAMPLE) 147
V
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 1. Age of respondents 45
Table 2, Race of respondents 46
Table 3. Year of marriage of respondents 46
Table 4. Number of marriages of respondents 47
Table 5. Number of children of respondents 47
Table 6. Educational level of respondents 49
Table 7. Occupation of respondents 50
Table 8. Respondents' residence by geographical area (high
school years) 51
Table 9. Religious preference of respondents 51
Table 10. Denomination of Protestant respondents 52
Table 11. Other religion categories of respondents 53
Table 12. Influence of religion on respondents 54
Table 13. Frequency of church attendance by respondents 54
Table 14. Family income of respondents 56
Table 15. Occupation of respondents' fathers 57
Table 16. Occupation of respondents' mothers 58
Table 17. Summary scores and standard deviations for the
marital adjustment scale and its subscale 51
Table 18. Mean ratings on positive and negative adjectives
(spouse, friend, and spouse self-rating) 63
Table 19. Mean rating on positive and negative behaviors
(spouse, friend, and spouse self-rating) 64
Table 20. Correlation coefficients between marital adjustment
and marital conventionalization (Edmonds' true/false
format) when marital idealization varies and is held
constant 71
vi
Page
Correlation coefficients between marital adjustment
and marital conventionalization (forced-choice format)
when marital idealization varies and is held constant 74
Correlation coefficients between marital adjustment
and marital conventionalization when social desirability
varies and is held constant 92
Correlation coefficients between three background varia­
bles and marital adjustment and conventionalization
(true/false format) when each varies and is held con­
stant 100
Correlation coefficients between three background
variables and marital adjustment and conventionaliza­
tion (forced-choice format) when each varies and is
held constant 101
Frequency distribution for marital conventionalization
scores (true/false format) 136
Frequency distribution for marital conventionalization
scores (forced-choice format) 137
Frequency distribution for affectional expression
scores 138
Frequency distribution for dyadic satisfaction scores 139
Frequency distribution for dyadic consensus scores 140
Frequency distribution for dyadic cohesion scores 141
Frequency distribution for marital adjustment scores 142
Frequency distribution for marital idealization scores 143
Frequency distribution for idealized attributional
style scores 144
Frequency distribution for social desirability scores 145
Frequency distribution for anomie scores 146
Marital conventionalization scores (true/false format)
as a function of number of children 148
vil
Page
Table 37. Marital conventionalization scores (forced-choice
format) as a function of year of marriage 149
Table 38. Marital conventionalization scores (forced-choice
format) as a function of number of children 150
Table 39. Marital conventionalization scores (forced-choice
format) as a function of influence of religion 151
Table 40. Affectional expression subscale scores as a function
of year of marriage 152
Table 41. Affectional expression subscale scores as a function
of influence of religion 153
Table 42. Affectional expression subscale scores as a function
of income 154
Table 43. Affectional expression subscale scores as a function
of mother's occupation 155
Table 44. Dyadic satisfaction subscale scores as a function of
year of marriage 156
Table 45. Dyadic satisfaction subscale scores as a function of
number of children 157
Table 46. Dyadic satisfaction subscale scores as a function of
influence of religion 158
Table 47. Dyadic satisfaction scores as a function of church
attendance 159
Table 48. Dyadic satisfaction subscale scores as a function of
mother's occupation 160
Table 49. Dyadic consensus subscale scores as a function of
year of marriage 161
Table 50. Dyadic consensus subscale scores as a function of
number of children 162
Table 51. Dyadic consensus subscale scores as a function of
influence of religion 163
Table 52. Dyadic consensus subscale scores as a function of
church attendance 164