Relationship of Communication Style to Egalitarian Marital Role Expectations

This study examined the relationship between the marital model endorsed by American couples and their style of communication. Subjects were 76 married couples obtained from college psychology, nursing, and home economics classes. The couples individually completed a personal data form, the Marriage Role Expectation Inventory (Dunn, 1960), Locke and Wallace's (1959) Short Marital Adjustment Test, and the Marital Communication Inventory (Bienvenu, 1978). Twenty of the couples selected to participate in a communication simulation were shown Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) cards and instructed to create oral stories. Each couple's interaction was evaluated by an investigator. Results showed that marital communication was significantly correlated with both egalitarianism and marital adjustment. The communication simulation revealed differences between the moderately egalitarian and very egalitarian couples.