Commitment to one's spouse as a predictor of marital quality among older couples

The present study examined the relationships between several independent va riables (ego development, commitment to the spouse, length of marriage, chu rch attendance, and sex of subject) and three marital quality variables (ma rriage problems, expression of love, and dyadic adjustment) in a community sample of 72 married couples age 50 and up. Commitment to the spouse was th e strongest and most consistent predictor of marital quality; commitment wa s negatively related to marriage problems and positively related to express ion of love and dyadic adjustment. The other independent variables were gen erally unrelated to marital quality.