Self-Monitoring, Marital Dissatisfaction, and Relationship Dissolution: Individual Differences in Orientations to Marriage and Divorce

Abstract

The relationship between self-monitoring and marriage was examined. In the first study, it was hypothesized that marital satisfaction would be greater for low self-monitoring spouses than for high self-monitoring spouses. One hundred seventeen persons who were currently married completed the Self-Monitoring Scale and the Revised Dyadic Interaction Scale (an index of marital satisfaction). The majority of satisfied spouses were low self-monitors; the majority of dissatisfied spouses were high self-monitors. In the second study, it was hypothesized that divorce would be more likely among high self-monitoring spouses than low self-monitoring spouses. Sixty-five persons who were currently married completed the Self-Monitoring Scale and indicated the number of times they had been divorced. The majority of those who had been divorced one or more times were high self-monitors; the majority of those who had never been divorced were low self-monitors. Although alternative interpretations are plausible, self-monitoring differences in orientations toward close relationships account in part for marital dissatisfaction and dissolution.