No abstract

Social skills were predicted to be associated with two indicators of psychological well-being: reduced symptoms of depression and life-satisfaction. Social skills were also predicted to be associated with a reduction in the experience of stress. This reduced stress experience was hypothesized to explain the social skills-well-being association. These predictions were tested in a sample of 500 university students who provided self-reports of social skills, well-being (depression and life satisfaction), and stress. Results supported the hypothesized relationship between social skills and greater well-being, as well as social skills and lower levels of perceived stress. The lower perceptions of stress that accompany higher levels of social skills mediated the association between social skills and depression as well as life satisfaction.

Research and theory indicate that satisfaction is a key determinant of commitment. Because some marriages are defined by a traditional ideology that anchors commitment in a value system rather than inherent rewards of the relationship, the association between satisfaction and commitment was expected to vary by couple type. Participants completed self-report measures of relational ideology, autonomy, communication, satisfaction, and several types of commitment. Results indicated that separate couples reported the lowest marital satisfaction and personal commitment of all the couple types. Separate couples also reported the lowest dedication commitment of all the couple types, whereas traditional couples reported the highest. The opposite pattern emerged for constraint commitment; separate couples reported the highest and traditional couples reported the lowest. Finally, actor-partner interdependence models revealed strong and positive associations between satisfaction and commitment for separate couples, as well as for wives in independent couples, but no such association among traditional couples.

No abstract

No abstract