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Graham B. Spanier

Bio: Graham B. Spanier is an academic researcher from Pennsylvania State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Marital separation. The author has an hindex of 32, co-authored 61 publications receiving 12255 citations. Previous affiliations of Graham B. Spanier include Oregon State University & Stony Brook University.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Dyadic Adjustment Scale as discussed by the authors is a measure for assessing the quality of marriage and other similar dyads, which is designed for use with either married or unmarried cohabiting couples.
Abstract: This study reports on the development of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, a new measure for assessing the quality of marriage and other similar dyads. The 32-item scale is designed for use with either married or unmarried cohabiting couples. Despite widespread criticisms of the concept of adjustment, the study proceeds from the pragmatic position that a new measure, which is theoretically grounded, relevant, valid, and highly reliable, is necessary since marital and dyadic adjustment continue to be researched. This factor analytic study tests a conceptual definition set forth in eariler work and suggests the existence of four empirically verified components of dyadic adjustment which can be used as subscales [dyadic satisfaction, dyadic cohesion, dyadic consensus and affectional expression]. Evidence is presented suggesting content, criterion-related, and construct validity. High scale reliability is reported. The possibility of item weighting is considered and endorsed as a potential measurement technique, but it not adopted for the present Dyadic Adjustment Scale. It is concluded that the Dyadic Adjustment Scale represents a significant improvement over other measures of marital adjustment, but a number of troublesome methodological issues remain for future research.

6,899 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors assess marital change in response to the birth of a first-born or later-born infant, 72 volunteer couples were studied longitudinally from the last trimester of pregnancy through the ninth postpartum month.
Abstract: In order to assess marital change in response to the birth of a first-born or later-born infant, 72 volunteer couples were studied longitudinally from the last trimester of pregnancy through the ninth postpartum month. Joint couple interviews; individual spousal questionnaires; and naturalistic, in-home, behavioral observations were used. Analyses of mean scores revealed modest yet highly reliable changes in marital adjustment (as assessed by the Dyadic Adjustment Scale), marital functioning (joint leisure activities, perception of relationship as a romance, friendship, and partnership), and observed marital interaction. Cross-time correlational analyses revealed that, despite these changes in central tendencies, spouses and couples that initially scored high on various measures tended to do so across the period studied. Considered together, a dual developmentalfocus upon both individual and group change indicates that in some respects the addition of a first-born or later-born infant has a negative impact on the marital relationship, whereas in other respects (i.e., individual differences) it exerts relatively little impact.

398 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The quality of marital relationships continues to be the most widely studied topic in the field as discussed by the authors, and there is a growing interest in dyads as a more general form of relationship.
Abstract: The quality of marital relationships continues to be the most widely studied topic in the field. Trends during the 1970s in research on marital quality and related concepts (happiness, satisfaction, adjustment, etc.) are summarized. The decade saw more husbands in samples, more attention to couples and joint assessment of husbands and wives, use of observational data collection techniques, greater attention to methodological and measurement issues, more use of multivariate statistics, greater awareness of issues pertaining to cross-sectional designs, fewer biases in the portrayal of male/female roles, attempts to build theory and synthesize the literature, growing interest in "dyads" as a more general form of marital relationships, and more research which is international in scope. Research, methodological, and theoretical contributions are evaluated, and some recommendations are made for the decade ahead.

380 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Relationship marketing, established, developing, and maintaining successful relational exchanges, constitutes a major shift in marketing theory and practice as mentioned in this paper, after conceptualizing relationship relationships as a set of relationships.
Abstract: Relationship marketing—establishing, developing, and maintaining successful relational exchanges—constitutes a major shift in marketing theory and practice. After conceptualizing relationship marke...

19,920 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Existing evidence supports the hypothesis that the need to belong is a powerful, fundamental, and extremely pervasive motivation, and people form social attachments readily under most conditions and resist the dissolution of existing bonds.
Abstract: A hypothesized need to form and maintain strong, stable interpersonal relationships is evaluated in light of the empirical literature. The need is for frequent, nonaversive interactions within an ongoing relational bond. Consistent with the belongingness hypothesis, people form social attachments readily under most conditions and resist the dissolution of existing bonds. Belongingness appears to have multiple and strong effects on emotional patterns and on cognitive processes. Lack of attachments is linked to a variety of ill effects on health, adjustment, and well-being. Other evidence, such as that concerning satiation, substitution, and behavioral consequences, is likewise consistent with the hypothesized motivation. Several seeming counterexamples turned out not to disconfirm the hypothesis. Existing evidence supports the hypothesis that the need to belong is a powerful, fundamental, and extremely pervasive motivation.

17,492 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors defined clinically significant change as the extent to which therapy moves someone outside the range of the dysfunctional population or within the ranges of the functional population, and proposed a reliable change index (RC) to determine whether the magnitude of change for a given client is statistically reliable.
Abstract: In 1984, Jacobson, Follette, and Revenstorf defined clinically significant change as the extent to which therapy moves someone outside the range of the dysfunctional population or within the range of the functional population. In the present article, ways of operationalizing this definition are described, and examples are used to show how clients can be categorized on the basis of this definition. A reliable change index (RC) is also proposed to determine whether the magnitude of change for a given client is statistically reliable. The inclusion of the RC leads to a twofold criterion for clinically significant change.

7,653 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Dyadic Adjustment Scale as discussed by the authors is a measure for assessing the quality of marriage and other similar dyads, which is designed for use with either married or unmarried cohabiting couples.
Abstract: This study reports on the development of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, a new measure for assessing the quality of marriage and other similar dyads. The 32-item scale is designed for use with either married or unmarried cohabiting couples. Despite widespread criticisms of the concept of adjustment, the study proceeds from the pragmatic position that a new measure, which is theoretically grounded, relevant, valid, and highly reliable, is necessary since marital and dyadic adjustment continue to be researched. This factor analytic study tests a conceptual definition set forth in eariler work and suggests the existence of four empirically verified components of dyadic adjustment which can be used as subscales [dyadic satisfaction, dyadic cohesion, dyadic consensus and affectional expression]. Evidence is presented suggesting content, criterion-related, and construct validity. High scale reliability is reported. The possibility of item weighting is considered and endorsed as a potential measurement technique, but it not adopted for the present Dyadic Adjustment Scale. It is concluded that the Dyadic Adjustment Scale represents a significant improvement over other measures of marital adjustment, but a number of troublesome methodological issues remain for future research.

6,899 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results reveal that happiness is associated with and precedes numerous successful outcomes, as well as behaviors paralleling success, and the evidence suggests that positive affect may be the cause of many of the desirable characteristics, resources, and successes correlated with happiness.
Abstract: Numerous studies show that happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health. The authors suggest a conceptual model to account for these findings, arguing that the happiness-success link exists not only because success makes people happy, but also because positive affect engenders success. Three classes of evidence--crosssectional, longitudinal, and experimental--are documented to test their model. Relevant studies are described and their effect sizes combined meta-analytically. The results reveal that happiness is associated with and precedes numerous successful outcomes, as well as behaviors paralleling success. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that positive affect--the hallmark of well-being--may be the cause of many of the desirable characteristics, resources, and successes correlated with happiness. Limitations, empirical issues, and important future research questions are discussed.

5,713 citations