A Typology of Marital Quality of Enduring Marriages in Israel

Abstract

This article presents a typology of enduring marriages of Israeli couples married for at least 40 years. Based on the view that marital quality is a multidimensional phenomenon, the typology is derived from a cluster analysis of responses of husbands and wives in 51 couples to the ENRICH scale items. Three types of enduring marriages were found: vitalized, satisfactory, and conflictual. Vitalized marriages were characterized by high scores on both the intrinsic (e.g., mutual acceptance, communication, conflict resolution) and extrinsic (e.g., financial management, relations with relatives and friends) aspects of marriage. Satisfactory marriages were characterized by lower scores on the intrinsic aspects but relatively high scores on the extrinsic ones. Conflictual marriages were characterized by difficulties in both aspects. Some clinical implications are suggested and further quantitative studies of enduring marriages are urged.