Marital Adjustment and Personal Space Orientation

Marital adjustment and personal space orientation were studied in an Indian sample of 24 high and 24 low marital adjustment subjects. Personal space orientation was measured by doll placement and seating preference tests. Repeated measures on a last factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that marital adjustment did not affect personal space requirements of the subjects but that for different dyads they differed significantly. The least personal space was required for a wife-husband dyad, followed by wife-female, husband-male, husband-female, and wife-male dyads. The results of the seating preference test confirmed that for a wife-husband dyad the side-by-side arrangement was preferred, whereas for wife-male and husband-female dyads, far-end side arrangements were preferred.