WHAT DETERMINES THE QUALITY OF MARRIAGE? EMPIRICAL VALIDATION OF THE THEORETICAL MODEL.

This study aimed to test the model set up by Obradović and Čudina- Obradović, according to which marital quality is determined by certain traits of marital quality from each of these groups of factors: the personality traits of the partners, the characteristics of the marriage, the marital processes and the marital environment. We operationalized this model, by testing the effect personality traits and the tendency towards alcohol consumption of marriage partners (as a personal characteristic of the marriage partner), the duration of the marriage (as the characteristic of the marriage itself), satisfaction with the division of household responsibilities (as one of the indicators of the development of the marital processes) and doubt regarding the marriage partner's fidelity (as the feature of the wider marital environment) have on the experienced marital quality. NEO-PI-R, The Dyadic Adjustment Scale and questionnaire designed for the aims of this study were used on a sample of 199 respondents from Serbia. Our model shows an excellent fit (X2 >.05; RMSEA<.05; GFI>.90; AGFI>.90; CFI>.90; NFI>.90). It can be concluded that Neuroticism, The Duration of marriage, Doubt regarding the partner's fidelity and Dissatisfaction with the division of household responsibilities have a negative effect on marital quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]