Satisfaction;what makes us stay in a close relationship?

The purpose of the study was to study various factors which might influence the levelof satisfaction in close relationships. The theories which have been covered are: Thetriangular theory of love, The Investment model, Bowlby´s and Ainsworth attachmenttheories, The Equity theory, and the reward theory of attraction. The variables whichwere studied were: intimacy, rewards, commitment and equity. The level of perceivedsuperiority was also studied, as well as satisfaction level in comparison to duration inthe current relationship. A multiple regression was employed to find out which one ofthe variables above would associate strongest with satisfaction. A questionnaire wasused to collect the data and a reliability test was therefore carried out. 72participants took part in the study, 44 females and 28 males. The result showed thatcommitment had the strongest association with satisfaction, followed by intimacy.The result also showed that there was a negative significant correlation betweensuperiority and level of satisfaction. More over the result did not show anycorrelation between duration in the current relationship and satisfaction. Tworegressions were also performed to see which one of the variables (intimacy, reward,commitment and equity) would associate strongest with satisfaction in two conditions.The results showed that commitment had the strongest association for the conditionwith the participants who had been in their relationship 1-6 years. Commitment alsohad the strongest association in the other condition followed by intimacy. In thiscondition the participants had been in their relationship for seven years or more. Themain discussion points have been the current results in comparison to other’sresearch in the area as well as suggestions for future research.