The study compared the marital adjustment scores of young college student Mormon temple and nontemple couples. Marital adjustment scores of temple couples were significantly higher than they were for nontemple couples. Responses of 20 temple and 20 nontemple couples were analyzed controlling for age, length of marriage, income, number of children, and education. The mean marital adjustment scores did not vary significantly when each control variable was analyzed in terms of its effect on marital adjustment for temple and nontemple couples. Nontemple husbands and wives were affected differently by the various control variables.
Male and female nontemple marital adjustment scores generally increased or decreased in opposite directions, while male and female temple adjustment scores generally increased or decreased in the same direction. This difference, while not statistically significant, affects overall marital adjustment when the multiple effect of all control variables is analyzed.
Analyzing a few selected questions from the marital adjustment teat indicated temple couples agreed more often on conventionality, philosophy of life, and friends than did nontemple couples. Nontemple couples agreed more often on finances than did temple couples.
Temple and nontemple couples who perceived disagreements as being solved by a mate giving in rather than by mutual give and take had marital adjustment scores below the mean for their group.
When respondents were asked to state the percentage of time the responses of them and their mates would be in agreement, temple couples perceived their responses to the marital adjustment test being in agreement more often than did nontemple couples.
The positive correlation between religiosity and marital adjustment scores was significant for temple couples but not for nontemple couples