Keywords

marital satisfaction, satisfaction with married life, scale development

Abstract

Marital satisfaction has been psychometrically measured using many different instruments not soundly based on theory. The Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS), consisting of 14 items, is commonly accepted by researchers and practitioners tomeasure marital satisfaction but was not specifically designed to measuremarital satisfaction. The Satisfaction with Married Life Scale (SWML), consisting of five items, is a short scale specifically targeted toward measuring marital satisfaction. An online sample collected from 1,187 couples throughout the United States was used to compare these instruments’ correlation (r¼.782), factor structures, reliability (SWML, a¼.958; RDAS, a¼.943), theoretical foundation, and validity. These instruments are on parity with each other when measuring marital satisfaction; however, each instrument yields implications for practitioners and researchers desiring to measure marital satisfaction.

Original Publication Citation

Ward, P., Lundberg, N., Zabriskie, R., & Barret, K. (2009). Measuring marital satisfaction: A comparison of the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Satisfaction with Married Life Scale. Marriage and Family Review, 45(4), 412-429.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2009

Publisher

Marriage and Family Review

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Experience Design and Management

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

Share

COinS