DECISION-MAKING POWER AND MARITAL SATISFACTION - A SELF-EVALUATION MAINTENANCE PERSPECTIVE

The article examines the way in which couples divide decision-making power in marital relationships using the Self Evaluation Maintenance (SEM) model and its extension to marital relationships as a guiding framework. A sample of 90 couples was used to test the effect of distribution of marital decision making power on marital satisfaction. As predicted by the model and its extension, couples reported distributing decision making power in ways that supported the self evaluation maintenance needs of both partners. Further, differences between satisfied and dissatisfied couples in the distribution of decision making power were in the direction predicted by the SEM model and its extension to marriage. It appears that the SEM perspective may provide useful guidance in the study of power distribution in marital relationships as well as offering potentially useful clinical implications.