WORLD VIEW, MARITAL SATISFACTION AND STABILITY (MARRIAGE TYPE, LEADERSHIP STYLE

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the associa- tion between an individual's world view and his or her marriage type, leadership style within the marriage, marital satisfaction and stability.;It was theorized that in a traditional marriage where the instru- mental aspects of marriage predominate and the perception and performance of roles are influenced by a theistic world view, con- ventional family-oriented socialization practices would be associa- ted with higher marital satisfaction than in the companionship type marriage where marital satisfaction would be more contingent upon variables such as feelings of affection, sexual enjoyment and companionship.;The following hypotheses were tested: (1) There is a significant correlation between world view (theism vs. humanism as measured by the Broen Religious Attitude Inventory) and marriage type (tradi- tional vs. companionship as measured by Harrell's Institutional/ Companionship Scale). (2) There is a significant correlation between type of marriage (traditional vs. companionship as meas- ured by Harrell's Institutional/Companionship Scale) and leadership style (authoritarian vs. democratic as measured by the Tharp Marital Role Questionnaire). (3) The third hypothesis posited a direct rela- tionship between the degree of marital satisfaction and stability (as measured by Clarke's Interpersonal Satisfaction-Attraction Scale) and a structured style of leadership in the family (as measures by the Tharp Marital Role Questionnaire).;Three hundred and forty-five individuals participated in the study. Two hundred and forty-five of the subjects were conservative Bap- tists and the remaining one hundred participants were members of any one of six Unitarian-Universalist congregations.;Support was found for the first hypothesis. There is a direct positive correlation between world view (theism/humanism) and a particular type of marriage (traditional/companionship).;Support was found for the second hypothesis. There is a direct positive correlation between the type of marriage (traditional/ companionship) and the style of leadership (authoritarian/ democratic).;Hypothesis three which suggested a correlation between marital satisfaction and a structured marriage was not supported.;The assumption of hypothesis three that suggested a relationship between marriage orientation and stability, was supported, but not strongly.