The defense mechanisms inventory: Theoretical and psychometric implications

Defense mechanisms and object relations have been increasingly featured in the recent literature on personality and interpersonal behavior. The Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI) has become popular as a reference tool in many of these studies. Recent theoretical analyses have elaborated the differential conceptualization of defense from drive theory and object relations perspectives (Juni, 1997). These perspectives are used as counterpoints to analyze relevant constructs of the DMI and their underlying premises. A meta-analysis of convergent validity data is presented, supporting the rationale of the composite object relations measure of the instrument. Inadequacies in defense operationalization inherent in the DMI are reviewed, with particular stress on confounding measurement effects. Psychometric implications of the ipsative nature of the instrument are outlined. The notion of aggression as a defense is explored in context of the unique dynamic status of intropunitiveness, especially as it impacts on defense theory and the factor structure of the instrument.     

The defense mechanisms inventory: Theoretical and psychometric implications

Defense mechanisms and object relations have been increasingly featured in the recent literature on personality and interpersonal behavior. The Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI) has become popular as a reference tool in many of these studies. Recent theoretical analyses have elaborated the differential conceptualization of defense from drive theory and object relations perspectives (Juni, 1997). These perspectives are used as counterpoints to analyze relevant constructs of the DMI and their underlying premises. A meta-analysis of convergent validity data is presented, supporting the rationale of the composite object relations measure of the instrument. Inadequacies in defense operationalization inherent in the DMI are reviewed, with particular stress on confounding measurement effects. Psychometric implications of the ipsative nature of the instrument are outlined. The notion of aggression as a defense is explored in context of the unique dynamic status of intropunitiveness, especially as it impacts on defense theory and the factor structure of the instrument.     

Marital satisfaction as a function of dyadic gender-role constellations

Abstract

Forty-eight married couples completed Snyder's Marital Satisfaction Inventory and were also categorized with the Bern Sex-role Inventory as androgynous, gender role congruent, gender role incongruent, or undifferentiated. Analyses of variance showed that androgynous couples featured more wives who were dissatisfied regarding child issues. Data are also presented for differential patterns for the individual marital satisfaction indices. Results are compared to data on individual gender-role determinants and are conceptualized in terms of gender-role and communication theory.     

Convergent and discriminant validity of the Marital Disillusionment Scale

The Marital Disillusionment Scale, together with measures of divorce proneness, marital disaffection, work addiction, sensation seeking, intimacy, and marital satisfaction (using the subscales Marital Disharmony and Disaffection), was administered to 116 married people (42 men, 74 women) in a university town in the western USA. Scores on the Marital Disillusionment Scale had significant positive correlations with scores on the Marital Instability Scale (r = .54), the Marital Disaffection Scale (r = .72), and the two subscales Disharmony (r = .53) and Disaffection (r = .75) of the eMarital Satisfaction Inventory. Scores for the Marital Disillusionment Scale were negatively correlated with those for the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships Inventory (r = -.65) but were not significantly associated with scores for the Work Addiction Risk Test and the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale. The results support the convergent and discriminant validity of the Marital Disillusionment Scale.     

Defense mechanisms in minority African-American and Hispanic youths: standardization and scale reliabilities

The Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI), which has been standardized for White populations and has been used frequently in a variety of personality and interpersonal interaction studies, was administered to 229 minority noncollege youths. Reliability and sex difference data are presented, and the pattern of defenses is compared to published patterns among the White population. Normative tables are presented as references for future DMI studies with minorities, with comparisons for archival data on 504 college students. Data analyses demonstrate the reliability of the DMI for minorities, with tendencies toward the internalizing polarity of the composite (object relations) measure. Evidence is also presented that the DMI is more salient for the minority population on the composite cluster, rather than for the specific defenses.     

Defense Mechanisms in Minority African-American and Hispanic Youths: Standardization and Scale Reliabilities

The Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI), which has been standardized for White populations and has been used frequently in a variety of personality and interpersonal interaction studies, was administered to 229 minority noncollege youths. Reliability and sex difference data are presented, and the pattern of defenses is compared to published patterns among the White population. Normative tables are presented as references for future DMI studies with minorities, with comparisons for archival data on 504 college students. Data analyses demonstrate the reliability of the DMI for minorities, with tendencies toward the internalizing polarity of the composite (object relations) measure. Evidence is also presented that the DMI is more salient for the minority population on the composite cluster, rather than for the specific defenses.     

Areas of Marital Dissatisfaction Among Long‐Term Couples

To better understand relational dissatisfaction and duration of long‐term married couples, this study surveyed 30 couples married at least 40 years with the Marital Satisfaction Inventory. Findings suggest various areas of dissatisfaction (e.g., affective communication, conflict over child rearing) and relationship among and link to other areas of dissatisfaction (e.g., finances, sex).     

Factors in Chinese Marital Process: Relationship to Marital Adjustment

This research examined the applicability, in Taiwan Chinese groups, of western approaches to conceptualizing and assessing aspects of marital relations. Chinese translations of American measures of marital adjustment (the Marital Adjustment Test) and marital process (the California Inventory for Family Assessment, mea- suring respondents' perceptions of their spouses' behavior) were developed to study a Taiwan Chinese sample of husbands and wives (N = 104 in Taiwan and N = 54 in the United States). These translations were found to be reliable and for the most part to relate as expected. In accordance with 14 reconceptualization of the cohesion-enmeshment domain, factor analytic results yielded independent dimensions consistent with the western constructs of intrusiveness and closeness-caregiving. Results also suggested aspects of marital process that may distinguish Taiwan Chinese marriages from those among western cultures. These findings were interpreted with reference to the impact of modernization on Chinese marital relations.     

Engaging distortions: are we idealizing marriage?

The present study was an investigation of the premarital status of engagement in terms of relationship satisfaction and marital expectations using the Evaluation and Nurturing Relationship Issues, Communication and Happiness (ENRICH) Marital Satisfaction Scale (EMS) and its two subscales of Idealistic Distortion (ID) and Marital Satisfaction (MS) (D. G. Fournier, D. H. Olson, & J. M. Druckman, 1983). There were 104 students (23 men and 81 women), of which 15 were married, 19 were engaged, and 70 had extended dating relationships. On average, participants had been in the relationship for 3.8 years, and the mean age was 22 years. Results demonstrated that individuals engaged to be married had significantly higher idealistic distortion scores (M = 86.89) than did either married individuals (M = 56.67) or those in extended dating relationships (M = 61.19). Finally, a negative relation was found between length of relationships and marital satisfaction subscores. Results are discussed in light of factors contributing to such idealized thinking.     

The Relationship Between Marital Satisfaction,Marital Stability,Nuclear Family Triangulation,and Childhood Depression

This study was to examine the effect of triangulation on depression in children. Clinical samples and nonclinical samples were taken from Utah and Illinois. Families were assessed for marital satisfaction and stability, family triangulation, and children's depression levels by the Marital Adjustment Test, Marital Status Inventory, Nuclear Family Triangulation, and Children's Depression Inventory. Results showed children's depressive symptoms to be most strongly linked to fathers' level of marital satisfaction, marital stability, and perceived family triangulation. Mothers' variables did not affect children's depressive symptoms .     

The relationship of sexual adjustment and related sexual behaviors and attitudes to marital adjustment

Abstract

This paper examines the extent of relationship between sexual adjustment and marital adjustment for 30 married couples followed for 3–6 months. Sexual adjustment was assessed by means of the LoPiccolo-Steger Sexual Interaction Inventory, and two other measures termed a Couple Interaction Scale (CI) and a Couple Compatibility Ratio (CCR). Marital adjustment was assessed by means of the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale (L-W MAS) and a clinically-devised instrument based on the extent of support between the marital partners. The two marital adjustment instruments agreed closely. A high degree of association was obtained between most of the sexual adjustment measures and the two marital adjustment measures; using the most reliable of these measures, it is estimated that sexual adjustment contributed between 40 % and 55 % of the variance in marital adjustment. This association was not due to a specific stage of. the human sexual response cycle of desire, excitement, orgasm and gratification. Intercorrelation of measures of each of these stages with the marital adjustment measures generally yielded significant relationships.     

Familial dyadic patterns in defenses and object relations

The Defense Mechanisms Inventory was administered to 308 sets of marital couples, and adult sons or daughters. The inventory yields five defensive clusters as well as a composite object relations measure. Correlational analyses were aimed at determining the extent to which defensive and object relations styles generalize within the family. Results showed consistent similarities across the family in object relations styles and in acting out defenses. Dyadic analyses showed striking similarities between Husband-Wife, Father-Son, and Mother-Daughter, but not for Father-Daughter and Mother-Son dyads. Results are discussed in context of modeling, sex role, and systems theory.Data from this study were presented at the American Psychological Association annual convention, August, 1991, in San Francisco, CA.     

A comparison of sexually dysfunctional, maritally disturbed and well-adjusted couples

Married couples seeking sex therapy, marital therapy, or no form of therapy were compared with respect to personality, sexual and marital functioning. The Sexual Dysfunction and Marital Difficulties groups (15 and 10 couples respectively) were obtained from the waiting lists of a sexual dysfunction service and marital therapy unit. Non-Problem subjects (15 couples) were from a volunteer sample. Personal adjustment, sexual and marital functioning were assessed by means of the Eysenck Personality Inventory, a Sexual Behavior Questionnaire, the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Survey, and the Azrin Marital Happiness Scale. Results indicated that although all three groups were within the normal range, problem couples had higher ‘neuroticism’ scores than did Non-Problem couples. Marital Problem couples were the most debilitated. Their marital adjustment was lowest, and their sexual functioning was comparable to the Sexual Dysfunction group. Marital adjustment of the Sexual Dysfunction couples was significantly higher than that of the Marital Difficulties couples. Therapeutic and theoretical implications of the differentiating characteristics in the three couple categories are discussed.     

Treating Fused Couples

SUMMARY

Marital therapy with couples in which the partners are undifferentiated and highly fused entails attention to both individual and interpersonal dynamics. Individual structural problems such as insufficient sense of self, poor self-other differentiation, primitive defenses, and incomplete object constancy tend to co-occur with couples issues such as anxious attachment, possessiveness, jealousy, and patterns of reactivity and explosive fighting. A model for dealing with fusion in couples is presented that demonstrates how constructs and techniques of object relations theory serve to inform and to enhance the practice of Bowenian systems therapy.     

Gay and Lesbian Couples in Italy: Comparisons with Heterosexual Couples

Assessing couple relationships across diverse languages and cultures has important implications for both clinical intervention and prevention. This is especially true for nontraditional relationships potentially subject to various expressions of negative societal evaluation or bias. Few empirically validated measures of relationship functioning have been developed for cross‐cultural applications, and none have been examined for their psychometric sufficiency for evaluating same‐sex couples across different languages and cultures. The current study examined the psychometric properties of an Italian translation of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory – Revised (MSI‐R), a 150‐item 13‐scale measure of couple relationship functioning, for its use in assessing the intimate relationships of gay and lesbian couples in Italy. Results for these couples were compared to data from heterosexual married and unmarried cohabiting couples from the same geographical region, as well as to previously published data for gay, lesbian, and unmarried heterosexual couples from the United States. Findings suggest that, despite unique societal pressures confronting Italian same‐sex couples, these relationships appear resilient and fare well both overall and in specific domains of functioning compared to heterosexual couples both in Italy and the United States.     

Object relations and real life relationships: A cross method assessment

This study examines the relationship between the psychoanalytic concept of object relations and real life behavior of being in an intimate relationship among heterosexual women. In a multi‐method approach we used two different measures; the self‐report Bell Object Relations and Reality Testing Inventory (BORRTI; Bell, Billington & Becker, 1986 ) and the performance based Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Social Cognition & Object Relations Scale‐ Global Rating Method SCORS‐G (Westen, 1995 ) to measure the object relations of 60 women. The Alienation subscale of the BORRTI and understanding of social causality subscale of the SCORS‐G explained 34.8% of variance of the intimate relationship variable. Thus, women involved in a romantic relationship reported lower rates of alienation on the BORRTI and produced TAT narratives that were more adaptive with regard to understanding of social causality as measured by the SCORS‐G than those not currently in a relationship. Results are discussed with reference to the relationship between object relations and real life measures of healthy individuals and in light of the need for a multi‐method approach of assessment.     

Personality Factors,Attachment Styles and Coping Strategies in Couples with Good and Poor Marital Quality

Marital quality in connection to its demographical and psychological correlates has been studied extensively in the West. In India also, it has been given considerable attention, but adequate exploration of relevant psychological variables is still wanting. The present study was conceptualized in this context to explore differences in the Personality factors, Attachment styles and Coping strategies in couples with good and poor marital quality. Data were collected from 90 couples for initial screening. Finally 20 couples with good marital quality and 20 couples with poor marital quality were selected based on scores of Marital Quality Scale. The tools used for screening were Marital Quality Scale and General Health Questionnaire-28. Other tools consisted of Neo Five Factor Inventory, Attachment style Questionnaire, and Coping Check list. Analysis revealed that the husbands with poor marital quality had higher neuroticism, less extraversion, less secure attachment style, less problem focused coping and acceptance, and greater denial than those with good marital quality. Wives with poor marital quality differed significantly from the wives with good marital quality in terms of less religious coping, acceptance and social support. The findings of the study may be utilized for advising maritally distressed couples by enhancing their coping resources and utilizing attachment potentials for furtherance of quality of married life.     

Non-Verbal Communication and Marital Satisfaction

Twenty-one college couples were identified as maritally satisfied and 21 couples as maritally dissatisfied by the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale. The Marital Communication Scale (MCS), a new behavioral measure of accuracy of marital non-verbal communication, and the Primary Communication Inventory (PCI), a self-report measure, were administered to each couple. The results indicate a relationship between marital satisfaction and accuracy of non-verbal communication as assessed by both measures. The commonality of the two measures was found to be limited, however.     

Couples’ Communication as a Predictor of Marital Satisfaction Among Selected Filipino Couples

This study investigated the relation between couples’ communication and marital satisfaction and the possible predictive influence of communication on the marital satisfaction among selected couples of Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. The study was conducted among 82 married couples, and the results showed a significantly positive relationship between couples’ communication and marital satisfaction. Relational Communication Scale and Primary Communication Inventory were used to measure the couples’ communication, while Dyadic Adjustment Scale and Locke–Wallace Marital Adjustment Test were used to measure the marital satisfaction among the couples. A regression analysis of the data significantly showed that 90.4% of variance in marital satisfaction can be accounted for by couples’ communication. The results carry clear and meaningful implications for the role of couples’ communication in building and maintaining happy and satisfying marital relationship. This correlational and predictive study was undertaken to explore the need as well as the scope of a couples’ communication program for enhancing marital satisfaction.     

Marital Estrangement,Positive Feelings Toward Partners,and Locus of Control: Female Counselors Married to Alcohol‐Abusing and Non‐Alcohol‐Abusing Spouses

Marital estrangement, positive feelings toward spouses, and locus of control among a national sample of 323 female counselors who were either married or formerly married to alcohol‐abusing or to non‐alcohol‐abusing male partners were examined. Statistically significant differences between groups were found.