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The Importance of Similarity in the Marital Relationship
Author(s) -
DEAL JAMES E.,
WAMPLER KAREN SMITH,
HALVERSON CHARLES F.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
family process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.011
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1545-5300
pISSN - 0014-7370
DOI - 10.1111/j.1545-5300.1992.00369.x
Subject(s) - similarity (geometry) , psychology , social psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , image (mathematics)
Concepts such as “agreement,”“consensus,”“understanding,” and “shared meaning” are very familiar to clinicians. It is argued in this article that similarity in perceptions between spouses is a crucial dimension of the family system underlying these concepts. Findings are presented that support the idea that families vary along a dimension of similarity of perceptions, with more functional families characterized by high similarity between spouses' perceptions of their marriage and their family. In addition, the structure of this similarity was stable over 2 years and little change occurred in the mean level of similarity. Of three sets of predictor variables‐psychological stress, marital cohesion, and structural variables — marital cohesion was the most powerful predictor of marital similarity. The importance of similarity of perceptions between family members in clinical work is discussed.