Self-esteem, internal locus of control: relationship to marital satisfaction

The purpose of this investigation was to compare distressed and happy couples in terms of marital satisfaction, self-esteem, and internal locus of control;Three groups of 20 married couples (Control, Enrichment, and Counseling) volunteered and completed a research packet containing a background information sheet, the Index of Marital Satisfaction (IMS), the Index of Self-esteem (ISE), and the Internal Control Index (ICI). Most of the participants came from Missouri and Illinois in and around St. Louis;The research involved examining the data for differences and relationships. A marital satisfaction rating from the background information sheet (MS) was established as a second dependent variable. One-way, fixed effects analysis of variance was utilized in investigating for differences. Relationships among variables were assessed using Pearson product-moment correlation, multiple regression, and canonical correlation. The data from the sample were analyzed as units of individuals, couples, gender, and group;The results indicated the Counseling Group was significantly different from the Control and Enrichment Groups on all variables. The findings also showed significant relationships for each pair of variables with ISE correlating more strongly with IMS than did ICI. The canonical correlation between composite variables of IMS and MS with ISE and ICI using husband and wife scores was found to be significant and, while the results indicate that neither composite is a very good predictor of the other, the results look promising for future research