Marital satisfaction in australia: A path model

Most research on marriage tends to focus on the consequences of marital dissatisfaction, such as dissolution o f the marriage (divorce) or disruption (separation), rather than on the possible causes of dissatisfaction. B y assuming a causal order among a range of attributes, this paper applies multivariate analysis to 1983 data to suggest some causes o f dissatisfaction between partners. The main causes appear to be a lack o f shared attitudes towards moral standards and sex, moral standards being the predominant factorfor women, sex the predominant factor for men. Perhaps surprisingly, socioeconomic statusis o f lesser importance, more income reducing dissatisfaction, a better occupation increasing it. Finally, religiosity reduces dissatisfaction for women, but has little importance for men.