1. Alyssa Spurling Ball State University

2.  Level I = Traits  Level II = Personal Concerns or Constructs  Level III = Personal Life Story …If it takes all three levels to understand one person, then does it take all three levels to understand a marriage?

3.  Level I can be seen in research that studies the traits of the individuals involved in a marriage.  O’Rourke, Neufeld, Claxton, and Smith (2010) studied marriage by looking at how personality and traits play into a marital idealization.  Lavner, Bradbury, and Karney (2012) conducted a research study about incremental change or initial differences in the context of unsatisfactory marriages.

4.  Level II is seen in articles where the social role of the individual is assessed.  Hernandez, Mahoney, and Pargament(2011) studied sexuality and spirituality as a guiding factor in producing a satisfactory marriage.

5.  Level III can been seen in research studies that focus on how people work through their own personal life story and how they communicate/share that story with others.  For example, there was a study that looked at the attachment between an individual and their parents and an individual and their partner. The question proposed was how these attachments influenced the emotional behaviors observed in marriages (Mehta, Cowan, & Cowan, 2009).  A study done on newlyweds by Sullivan, Pasch, Johnson, and Bradbury (2012), looked at the factors of social support and problem solving skills as a predictor of the longitudinal course of marriage.  Madhyastha, Hamaker, and Gottman (2011) studied the idea of using data from moments in the daily lives of married couples.

6. HYPOTHESIS AND PURPOSE  H o= After experiencing the marital curriculum, there will be no difference in reports at the beginning of the study and at the end of the study.  H A1= After experiencing the marital curriculum, there will be a positive increase in the marital satisfaction response.  H A2= After experiencing the marital curriculum, there will be a positive increase in the intimacy response.  H A3= After experiencing the marital curriculum, there will be a positive increase in the self-disclosure response; for both self and spouse.  H A4= After experiencing the marital curriculum, there will be a positive increase in emotional intelligence.

7. Technical Details…Demographics…  Participants were recruited via convenience sampling.  There were three couples, initially.  These three couples fell into the category of newly married.  Two of the couples had been married for two years.  One couple, this was second. The other couple had dated for 14 years before getting married.  The third couple, this was their first marriage and had no previous experiences of cohabitation. * Due to previous commitments, time restrains, and the happy surprise of a baby on the way; the third couple was unable to proceed with this study and had to drop out from assessment/data collection.  Age range: 40-43  Both heterosexual couples  White Caucasian  Middle Class  Christian denomination  Educations levels included Some High School, High School or GED, Vocational/Technical School, and Associate’s Degree  Children

8. H A1 : After experiencing the marital curriculum, there will be a positive increase in the marital satisfaction response H A2 : After experiencing the marital curriculum, there will be a positive increase in the intimacy response  Index of Marital Satisfaction (IMS) Reliability: alpha =.90 Validity coefficient (.60) on a consistent basis The readability statistics: -Flesch Reading Ease is 77 -Gunning’s Fog Index is 8 -The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level is 5.  Relationship Satisfaction Inventory 13 item questionnaire Used at recommendation of supervisor  The Miller Social Intimacy Scale (MSIS) Reliability: alpha =.96. Validity =.84.  The Index of Sexual Satisfaction (ISS) Alpha coefficient of.90 or larger. Validity coefficients consistently been a.60 Readability Statistics: -Flesch Reading Ease of 79 -Gunning’s Fog Index or 8 -Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 5.

9. H A3 : After experiencing the marital curriculum, there will be a positive increase in the self-disclosure response; for both self and spouse. H A4 : After experiencing the marital curriculum, there will be a positive increase in emotional intelligence.  Self Disclosure Two Parallel Versions: SD-Self and SD-Spouse * Adapted versions of a self- disclosure assessment created by Billeter in 2002.  Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) This is a 33 question assessment. Internal consistency is Cronbach Alpha of.90. Readability Statistics: -Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 5.68 The EIS received a p value of less than 0.006.

10.  To address the unique Christian nature of the couples, the marital enrichment curriculum was The Art of Marriage: Getting to the Heart of God’s Design.  Six session topics: Love Happens, Love Fades, Love Dances, Love Interrupted, Love Sizzles, and Love Always.  This curriculum addressed major areas of marriage, but did so in a manner that was applicable to the couples.  Also, this curriculum came with guides that provide interactive questions, self-reflection questions, and opportunities to share life events.

11. Week 1Week 2  The first week consisted of gathering demographics, marital satisfaction, intimacy, sexual satisfaction, self- disclosure, personality, and emotional intelligence.  All previously mentioned assessments were administered in a two hour time frame.  Completion of the assessment ended week 1.  For week two, the couples met together and went through the marital enrichment curriculum.  The group meeting was designed for open discussion, specific areas of focus, interactive activities, and some take home material.

12. Week 3  At week three each couple went through assessments administered in week one.  Couples were compensated for their time. After collecting the data, a pre-post analysis was performed using though MiniTab statistical software. All data was reported and analyzed using the MiniTab statistical software.

13. RESULTS  The ISS paired t-test: t = 2.57, p = 0.041.  The MSIS paired t-test: t=10.73, p=0.999.  After reviewing these results, there was a partial rejection and partial acceptance of H A2  The p-value of the ISS was less than 0.05, making it significant, but the p- value of MSIS was greater than 0.05 resulting in non-significance.  It is important to note that the post-test scores for the MSIS were higher for every participant and the post-test scores for the ISS were higher for three of the participants.  Participant 3 reported perfect scores on both testing occasions, with the ISS.  These findings suggest that the increase in intimacy associated with sexual life of the couples was significant, but not the social intimacy of the couples.

16.  More participants, but remember the dynamics of small groups.  Multiple Small groups  More time  This is a three dimensional analysis of marriage = factorial ANOVA  If you like this type of study, make sure to have funding!

17. Questions? Comments? Revelations? * materials, references, and/or additional information available upon request: amspurling@bsu.edu