V
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION
Shared Values among Couples as a Prognosis
for Marital Satisfaction
by
Dagmar McKinley
California School of Professional Psychology, Fresno Campus
Lelia Veaco, EdD
Dissertation Committee Chairperson
1995
The present study investigated whether the Values
Questionnaire (Canfield & Canfield, 1993) can predict
marital satisfaction. Ninety-one married couples
individually completed the Demographic Information
Questionnaire, the Values Questionnaire, and the ENRICH
Marital Satisfaction Scale (Fowers & Olson, 1993) .
It was hypothesized that the greater the similarity of
values between spouses the greater the marital satisfaction.
It was further hypothesized that the longer the time couples
spent dating one another the greater the marital
satisfaction.
The results revealed a significant correlation between
value similarities and marital satisfaction, r(90) = -.32,
P < .005. In addition, there was no significant difference
between length in months couples dated one another and
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.