ISSUES IN MEASURING MARITAL SATISFACTION IN SURVEY RESEARCH

Several issues, including a social desirability response set, in measuring marital satisfaction were identified, primarily from Spanier and Cole (1976), and evaluated with data from two samples in the Midwestern United States. Although mean scores between marital satisfaction items differed slightly, the items formed an internally consistent scale. The self-administered questionnaire appears to elicit no greater, and perhaps even less of, a social desirability response set than the personal interview.