Marital Happiness and Interaction in Everyday Surroundings: A Time-Sample Diary Approach for Couples

Abstract

This study investigates spouses' everyday life experiences and relates them to marital happiness. Twenty-one couples, either married or living together, filled out a diary six times a day during a period of 4 weeks. It was hypothesized that marital happiness is associated with frequency, positivity and effectiveness of spousal interaction. Moreover, happiness should be inversely related to frequency of conflict and positively to accuracy of perception of the other's motivational state. In general, these assumptions were supported by the data.