Date of Award

7-2018

Document Type

Doctoral Research Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Richard T. Elmore, Jr.

Second Advisor

Barbara Paulillo

Third Advisor

John Frongillo

Fourth Advisor

Lisa Steelman

Abstract

The preponderance of research in marital therapy focuses on dissatisfaction, discord, and divorce among couples, often leading to an unbalanced perspective of the complex and dynamic nature of relationships. Utilizing an approach to examine the strengths, or specific areas of satisfaction, the present study utilizes the 16 Personality Factor Couple’s Counseling Report (16PF CCR) variables of overall Marital Satisfaction, Personality Similarity, and Relationship Adjustment to address factors related to adaptive relationships for females in marital therapy. Results demonstrated a positive significant relationship between overall Marital Satisfaction and eight of the nine individual satisfaction areas. There was also a positive significant relationship between Relationship Adjustment and six Primary Personality Factors, with Emotional Stability having the strongest correlation. Relationship Adjustment was also found to have a significant negative relationship with five Primary Personality Factors. Additionally, Relationship Adjustment and Personality Similarity were significantly and positively correlated. Finally, it was found that participant’s length of relationship was significantly related to overall Marital Satisfaction. The limitations, implications, and arguments for further research of the current study are discussed.

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