The association of intimacy goals and marital satisfaction: A test of fourmediational hypotheses

This research examines the association of intimacy goals and marital satisf action and tests four potential mediators of the goals-satisfaction link. F orty-four married couples completed measures of their own intimacy goals, t heir perceptions of their spouse's goals, patterning of marital interaction s (e.g., social support, time spent together, number of activities engaged in together mutual influence), and marital satisfaction. As predicted, both individuals' own and their spouses' pursuit of intimacy goals were associa ted with marital satisfaction. However, these associations between goals an d satisfaction were eliminated when individuals' perceptions of their spous es' goals were included in the analysis, indicating that the link between i ntimacy goals and marital satisfaction was mediated by individuals' percept ions of their spouses' goals. Discussion focuses on the theoretical and app lied implications of these findings.