Bowen (1978) believed that all individuals develop emotional ties to their families
of origin, termed differentiation, and that these ties determine emotional boundaries in
subsequent relationships. In this study, differentiation pertained to a couple's ability to
negotiate emotional boundaries in the marital system. In addition, this investigation
considered Bowen's theoretical position between religion and differentiation, as well as
examined the relationship between differentiation and marital variables: communication
and conflict resolution, by race.
A convenience sample of 49 Black couples and 45 White couples was used. The
groups were similar in terms of overall demographics, including SES, education, and
years married.
The model was tested using LISREL VIII as an observed variable model. The
disturbance terms for the endogenous variables were set to correlate. The models were
considered separately for Black and White couples, then a Chi-square difference test
procedure was performed to ascertain whether the structure of the model was the same
for Black and White couples.
The results indicated that there were few differences between Black and White
couples overall. However, in the model tests, how marital satisfaction was measured
made a difference. Using the KMS, a global measure of marital satisfaction, both
husbands' and wives' marital satisfaction were significantly predicted by differentiation
when using the husbands' model and the Black wives' model. When using the husbands'
MCLI, husbands' marital satisfaction was predicted but not the wives'. And with the
wives' MCLI, their marital satisfaction was predicted but not the husbands'. With the
husbands' and wives' ENRICH model, wives' marital satisfaction was significantly
predicted but not the husbands'.
T-tests showed significant mean differences by race for husbands' KMS and for
wives' KMS. There were also significant differences for communication and conflict
resolution. In general, the patterns of correlations were the same for Black and White
couples.
In sum, this study supported the relationships between differentiation and marital satisfaction, but did not indicate a significant relationship between differentiation and
religion. Additionally, only in the husbands' KMS model did religion significantly
predict wives' marital satisfaction, but no direct relationships were found between
religion and husbands' marital satisfaction in any model.