Assessing relationship standards: The Inventory of Specific Relationship Standards.

Abstract

The current study explored the importance of relationship standards in marital functioning through the use of a new self-report inventory: the Inventory of Specific Relationship Standards (ISRS). The findings indicate that community couples who hold relationship-focused standards (i.e., those who ask for a great deal from their marriages) score higher on all of the indixes of marital functioning than spouses with less relationship-focused standards. The results demonstrate that two pieces of information about a spouse's standards are important: the actual standard and whether that standard is being met in the relationship. Unexpectedly, extreme standards and differences between spouses' standards were somewhat less related to marital functioning. The findings confirm that spouses' standards in the areas of boundaries, control-power, and investment in the relationship are important dimensions to assess.

Toward an Understanding of Gender Differences in the Impact of Marital Conflict on Health

“…The interrelated constructs of power, dominance, and control are important aspects of interpersonal functioning and can be influenced by a combination of person, situation, and relationship factors (Baucom et al 1996;Burgoon and Dunbar 2000;Huston 1983). Huston (1983) characterizes power as the portion of influence over another's thoughts and behaviors that an individual generates intentionally, whereas dominance reflects the extent to which intentional or incidental influence between parties is asymmetrical.…”

Chasing Prince Charming: Partnering consequences of holding unrealistic standards for a spouse

“…To the extent that high standards tend to be more characteristic of singles who are in a better position to find and attract good partners, it is not surprising that the association between the absolute stringency of spousal standards and successful partnering outcomes would be inconsistent and sometimes positive. Indeed, past work on relational standards has frequently shown that holding more stringent standards -in and of itself -is associated with better rather than poorer relationship outcomes (e.g., Baucom, Epstein, Rankin, & Burnett, 1996;Fletcher et al, 1999;Morrow & O'Sullivan, 1998;Murray, Griffin, & Holmes, 1996). By developing a model to more directly quantify the attainability of individuals' standards for a spouse, this research seeks to estimate more accurately the implications of spousal criteria for later marital behavior.…”

Making it last: Combating hedonic adaptation in romantic relationships

“…For example, having higher expectations about one's romantic partner has been found to be associated with higher quality relationships (Baucom, Epstein, Rankin, & Burnett, 1996;Fletcher, Simpson, & Thomas, 2000). However, this relation holds only when the aspirations are met, when they are not inordinately high, and when relationship partners have positive relationship skills (McNulty & Karney, 2004).…”