A qualidade conjugal e os elementos do amor: um estudo correlacional Marital quality and love components: A correlational study

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between marital quality- in this study, the satisfaction and sociodemographic variables - and Sternberg's elements of love. 102 subjects participated in the study, 52 male and 50 female subjects from the capital and the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul. We used the Sternberg's Triangular Love Scale (ETAS) - Reduced Version and the Marital Satisfaction Scale - The Golombok Rust Inventory of Marital State (GRIMS). Our results indicated that marital satisfaction was heterogeneously evaluated by the sample, being decision/commitment the most preponderant element. The three components of love - Intimacy, Passion, Decision/Commit- ment - and the education level were correlated with marital satisfaction, dem- onstrating an interesting interactional frame of couples in this sample. Our data indicate a tendency for this sample to a greater appreciation of satisfaction and decision/commitment at the expense of intimacy and passion.