An investigation of unmet intimacy needs in marital relationships

Abstract

In this investigation we examined partners' responses to unmet intimacy needs in hopes of better understanding how these responses may affect intimacy satisfaction and overall relationship satisfaction. Eighty-four married couples, plus four additional husbands and 12 additional wives, were recruited from the community and completed measures of relationship satisfaction, intimacy need satisfaction, and attributional and communication responses to unmet intimacy needs. Consistent with the proposed mediational model, less negative attributional and communication responses to unmet intimacy needs were found to be beneficial for overall intimacy satisfaction and relationship satisfaction. In addition, more positive communication responses contributed to greater intimacy satisfaction. Limitations and clinical implications of the current study and directions for future work are discussed.