The taxometrics of marriage: is marital discord categorical?
This study used taxometric methods to investigate the latent structure of the construct of marital adjustment as indexed by the Marital Adjustment Test (MAT; H. J. Locke & K. M. Wallace, 1959). That is, the authors examined whether marital adjustment is best thought of as a "dimension" of adjustment only or whether there also are categorical differences between "discordant" and "nondiscordant" couples. Analyses of data provided by 447 couples married for approximately 2 years provided converging evidence for a latent category of marital discord, suggesting that marital discord can be viewed as a qualitatively distinct state experienced by approximately 20% of the couples in the current sample. Implications for marital assessment are outlined.
Institute for Behavioral Research, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-3013, USA. sbeach@egon.psy.uga.edu
Steven R H
SR
Beach
Frank D
FD
Fincham
Nader
N
Amir
Kenneth E
KE
Leonard
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*