The authors longitudinally examined couples' (N = 197) dedication (interpersonal commitment) levels on the basis of their premarital cohabitation history. Findings suggested that men who cohabited with their spouse before engagement were less dedicated than men who cohabited only after engagement or not at all before marriage. Furthermore, these husbands were less dedicated to their wives than ...

In this study, we investigated whether individuals’ personal and constraint commitment are differentially associatedwith their loneliness, as well as whether their commitment had an indirect effect on their stress through their loneliness. Participants included 255 couples in married or cohabiting relationships. Results of dyadic analyses indicated that individuals’ constraint commitment and lo...

HIV prevention strategies among couples include condom use, mutual monogamy, and HIV testing. Research suggests that condom use is more likely with new or casual partners, and tends to decline as relationships become steady over time. Little is known, however, about explicit mutual monogamy agreements and HIV testing within heterosexual couples. This study used data from 434 young heterosexual ...

We investigated the prospective associations between attitudes about sacrifice and marital outcomes in 38 married couples. Specifically, a measure of satisfaction with sacrifice was proposed to be a potent longitudinal predictor of marital adjustment and distress based on existing cross-sectional studies and also to mediate the association between commitment and marital adjustment. Results demo...

Finances, and how couples manage their finances, can have important implications for couples’ relational well-being. Using data from 1,585 that participated in the CREATE study (a nationally representative dyadic dataset of U.S. newlywed couples), we examined perceiving one’s spouse as a financial spender (i.e., spending more than they ideally would) or tightwad less was associated with several...

Extending research based on different-sex (i.e., heterosexual) couples, the authors explored associations between romantic relationship quality and depressive symptoms in a geographically diverse sample (N = 571) of U.S. adults in same-sex relationships. The authors also examined whether this association was moderated by individual characteristics (gender, age, and internalized heterosexism) or...

The present study examined heterosexual romantic partners' number of intercourse partners prior to the initiation of their relationship to determine if a significant positive correlation (matching) occurred between partners, and if this matching was associated with their level of love, satisfaction with, and commitment to the relationship. One hundred and six couples who were dating, cohabitati...