Measuring similarity in couples.

• DOI: 10.1037/0893-3200.8.4.417
• Publication Date: 2005-09-21T17:58:38Z
• Authors: David A. Kenny; Linda K. Acitelli
• Keywords: 5. Gender equality; 05 social sciences; 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences

The relationship between partner similarity and marital quality variables was explored by the use of a new method for the analysis of data from marital pairs. Forty-two married couples were given the Personal Assessment of Intimate Relationships inventory (M. T. Schaefer & D. H. Olson, 1981), and a method was devised for the removal of stereotype effects, that is, the tendency for partners to be similar to one another because they respond in a way that is typical of others. Similarity between wives and husbands decreased when adjusted for stereotype effects. There were no statistically significant relationships between couple similarity and measures of marital quality, with or without the adjustment for stereotype effects. However, there was evidence for both husbands and wives of an association between responding as typical husbands did and perceptions of satisfaction in the marital relationship. This result indicates that a stereotype effect may be a meaningful phenomenon rather than just a statistical artifact