ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on a longitudinal study of the marital relationships of newlyweds. Data gathered from couples shortly after their weddings and then again about a year later were used to examine issues related to the hypothesis that husbands and wives become less romantic and less satisfied with the quality of their relationship over the first 15 months of marriage. The chapter focuses on two levels of analysis: the feelings that marriage partners develop about each other and about their relationship and the behavioral organization of the marital relationship. Socioemotional behavior is important domain in the marital relationship that might evolve and change during the first year of marriage. Changes in respondents’ reports of feelings of love and ambivalence reinforce the notion of a decrease in the extent to which individuals felt positive about their marriage during the first year.
