Changes in Marital Satisfaction in Three Generations of Mexican Americans

Changes in marital satisfaction over 11 years are investigated in a three-generation sample of Mexican Americans from the San Antonio area originally interviewed during 1981-82 and reinterviewed in 1992-93. Among persons married to the same spouses, results showed no significant changes in the negative sentiment component of the Guilford and Bengtson marital satisfaction scale in any of the categories. However, significant declines in the positive interaction component were observed among women in all generations and among younger males. Declines among women over 11 years were consistent with cross-sectional findings at baseline showing successively lower positive interaction from younger to older generations among women. Results are discussed with regard to the U-shaped curve suggested by the literature on marital satisfaction across the life cycle.