Interpersonal ideals and personal change in newlyweds: A longitudinal analysis.

Abstract

Newlyweds face many tasks as they negotiate their lives together. This dissertation focuses on the personal self-concept change of newlyweds, and partners' ideals for each other. The purpose is to discover variables that predict whether one person's self-concept changes (over the first years of marriage) in accordance with the spouse's initial real-ideal discrepancy about that person. A secondary purpose is to describe people's ideals about the personal characteristics of their spouses, and how these ideals change from the first year of marriage to the third. Analyses were performed separately for black men, black women, white men, and white women, who were participants in a longitudinal study; 174 white couples and 199 black couples participated in the first year of the study. Variables used in multiple regressions to predict change were from the following categories: (1) premarital and background variables, (2) power, equity, and resources, (3) communication and contact with each other, (4) conflict, anxiety and tension, (5) gender attitudes, (6) conflict beliefs, (7) marital feelings, and (8) relationships with family and friends. Results suggest that personal change according to the spouse's wishes is a form of accommodation that takes place in response to positive experiences, rather than in response to negative experiences or pressures. A model of change was proposed. Also, results showed that changes in the ideals that people have for their spouses (ideals about partners' stubbornness, trustworthiness, and cooperativeness, for example) changed little over the first few years of marriage, and explanations for this were offered. Race and gender differences were also discussed.