According to Emily A. Stone and Todd K.

Shackelford, marital satisfaction is measured by

weighing the benefits and costs of a marriage. The more costs there are, the more dissatisfied a
person is in the marriage. The more benefits, the more satisfied a person is in the marriage. Many
factors enter into assessments of marital satisfaction: a spouses personality, his or her
performance of mate-guarding behaviors, his or her likelihood of infidelity, the desirability of
each partner, the presence of children, and others. If one partner perceives that the other is
inflicting costs (or being troublesome) in these domains, he or she may move to address them
through discussions with the partner, or by seeking a new or additional partner who may better
suit the person (2007).
Stone and Shackelford also presented five components and mechanisms of marital satisfaction in
terms of cognition, physiology, interaction patterns, social support, and violence. In terms of
cognition, it would be costly in the spouses relationship if one or both of them perform negative
behavior that may be attributed to characteristics of the spouse, or instead to circumstances
surrounding the spouses behavior. If such negative behavior is attributed to characteristics of
ones spouse rather than to circumstances surrounding his or her behavior, this is associated with
decreased marital satisfaction and marital deterioration (Stone & Shackelford, 2007).
Stone and Shackelford (2007) claimed that, in terms of physiology, there is a well-established
relationship between being married and maintaining physical well-being, and that maritally
satisfied couples are more likely to maintain synchrony among each partners electrodermal (or
electrical resistance of the skin) and heart rate systems, which may be a mechanism by which
married couples maintain greater physical well-being than unmarried individuals.
Interaction patterns between spouses can also affect how satisfied they are with their married.
The pattern most often related to marital dissatisfaction is one of demand/withdrawal. In this
pattern, one partner criticizes or nags the other about change, while the other partner (usually the
husband) evades the confrontation and discussion. The degree of social support for each of the
partners and for the relationship is another component for marital satisfaction: a marriage partner
who provides good social support for his or her spouse contributes to the spouses marital
satisfaction. Individuals involved in physically abusive relationships are more likely to be
dissatisfied with their marriage than are individuals not involved in abusive relationships.
Escalation to physical violence can result from many factors, for example alcohol use (Stone &
Shackelford, 2007).


Stone, E, & Shackelford, T. (July 2007). Marital Satisfaction. Retrieved from
http://www.toddkshackelford.com/downloads/Stone-Shackelford-ESP-2007.pdf


In 1985, Robert W. Levenson and John M. Gottman studied 30 married couples, 19 of which
they relocated in order to observe changes in these couples marital satisfaction over the next
three years. At the end of the study Levenson and Gottman observed that marital satisfaction
declined most when husbands did not reciprocate their wives negative affect, and when wives
did reciprocate their husbands' negative affect (Levenson & Gottman, 1985). In other words, as
Ellie Lisitsa (2013) said in the Gottmanblog.com website, couples grew less satisfied in
marriage if wives responded to their husbands being upset, and their husbands did not respond to
their wives being upset.
The website even summarized Gottmans and Levensons surprising findings as the following: a)
In dissatisfied marriages, husbands tend to withdraw emotionally (stonewall) in negative
interactions while wives remain emotionally engaged; b) A husbands emotional withdrawal in
dissatisfied marriages is pervasive: as the husband begins to become withdrawn from his wife,
she shows more negative affect. This might be considered to be a sign of his wifes initial
attempts to coax him back; c) As marital satisfaction declined, the interaction between the couple
becomes this: the husbands stonewalling made the wife more dissatisfied, her negative affect
increased, in turn making her husband feel less satisfied with the relationship (Lisitsa, 2013).

Lisitsa, E. (2013). The Research: Physiological and Affective Predictors of Change in
Relationship Satisfaction. Retrieved: August 23, 2014, from
http://www.gottmanblog.com/2013/02/the-research-physiological-and.html

Michael Fulwiler (2013), in his blog post in Gottmanblog.com website, presented the methods
that Dr Gottman and his colleagues employed to the measurement of couple processes. The
methods include: interactive behavior or coding partners behavior and emotions as couples
interact in various contexts; perception or self assessment through questionnaires, interviews for
oral history; and physiology or measuring autonomic and endocrine systems.

Fulwiler, M. (2013). Announcement: The Research. Retrieved: August 23, 2014, from
http://www.gottmanblog.com/2013/02/announcement-research.html