| Differentiation of self has been hypothesized as a fundamental component of long-term intimacy, satisfaction, and mutuality in marital relationships. Differentiation allows for each person in a significant relationship to function with a healthy balance of both relational independence and interdependence. Murray Bowen defines differentiation as both the balance between the forces of separateness and togetherness and the balance between intellect and reactive emotions. Both concepts are mutually influential on a person's level of differentiation. It is believed that a person's level of differentiation greatly impacts all areas of one's life, including marital and sexual satisfaction. Husbands and wives in less differentiated marriages are believed to exhibit less emotional maturity and a limited capacity for closeness and separateness, which requires both spouses to sacrifice personal growth for a stable marriage.;The present quantitative study investigated the perceived influences of differentiation of self on marital and sexual satisfaction of 51 (N = 102) married couples within the Atlanta-metro area. This survey method utilized the Differentiation of Self Inventory (DSI), the Index of Marital Satisfaction (IMS), and the Index of Sexual Satisfaction (ISS), and demographic data. The statistical analyses, performed on the SPSS software, included the Pearson product moment correlation and the Multiple Linear Regression. The combined sum scores of husbands and wives revealed significant correlations between differentiation of self, marital satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction. The wives sum scores provided a significant correlation between differentiation of self and marital satisfaction only, while the husbands sum scores revealed no significant correlation between the variables. Both husbands and wives combined sum scores and separate sum scores provided support that marital and sexual satisfaction strongly correlate. None of the demographic variables were found to be significant predictors of differentiation of self. This study provides support for Bowen's hypothesis that differentiation of self is influential on marital and sexual satisfaction. |
