Non‐Verbal Communication and Marital Satisfaction

Abstract

Twenty‐one college couples were identified as maritally satisfied and 21 couples as maritally dissatisfied by the Locke‐Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale. The Marital Communication Scale (MCS), a new behavioral measure of accuracy of marital non‐verbal communication, and the Primary Communication Inventory (PCI), a self‐report measure, were administered to each couple. The results indicate a relationship between marital satisfaction and accuracy of non‐verbal communication as assessed by both measures. The commonality of the two measures was found to be limited, however.