Relation between Sex-Role Orientation and Marital Satisfaction

Abstract

This study investigated the reported marital satisfaction of couples as it related to their sex-role orientations. One hundred eighty-five couples living in Columbia, MD, completed Rem Sex-Role Inventories and Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Tests. The results suggest that couples in which both partners are androgynous report higher marital satisfaction than both sex-typed (traditional role) couples and incongruent (sex-typed spouse with non-sex-typed spouse) couples. These results were discussed in a framework of cognitive balance.