Both spouses of 100 married, heterosexual couples completed the Person
al Authority in the Family System Questionnaire (PAFS-Q). A cluster an
alysis of the couples' scores on the four intimacy and fusion scales o
f the PAFS-Q produced four clusters that were meaningfully distinct in
the patterns of differentiation of the wives and husbands. Couples co
mprising these clusters are described in terms of intergenerational th
eories of family interaction.