Assortative matching for sex-role and marriage adjustment

Eighty-two middle-class married couples were administered the Bem Sex-role Inventory, a newly derived Behavioral Inventory measuring sex-role by task performance and the Spanier Dyadic Adjustment Scale. It was hypothesized that individuals are assortatively matched by sex-role in marriage, that all-androgynous couples have greater marriage adjustment (MA) than stereotypic couples who are, in turn, higher than ‘other’ couples (undifferentiated or cross-type), and that there is an interaction effect with certain combinations more deleterious to MA than others. All hypotheses were supported and evidence presented that matching occured by selection rather than as a result of living together. In addition, subsequent analysis indicated that men's sex-roles are more associated with MA than women's sex-roles.