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The Association of Intimacy Goals and Marital Satisfaction: A Test of Four Mediational Hypotheses

Amherst College, casanderson{at}amherst.edu

Nancy Cantor

University of Michigan

This research examines the association of intimacy goals and marital satisfaction and tests four potential mediators of the goals-satisfaction link. Forty-four married couples completed measures of their own intimacy goals, their perceptions of their spouse’s goals, patterning of marital interactions (e.g., social support, time spent together, number of activities engaged in together, mutual influence), and marital satisfaction. As predicted, both individuals’ own and their spouses’ pursuit of intimacy goals were associated with marital satisfaction. However, these associations between goals and satisfaction were eliminated when individuals’ perceptions of their spouses’ goals were included in the analysis, indicating that the link between intimacy goals and marital satisfaction was mediated by individuals’ perceptions of their spouses’ goals. Discussion focuses on the theoretical and applied implications of these findings.

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