Next we examine the path coefficients of the four predictors, particularly
those of the two discrepancy scores. Table 3 presents the path coefficients
on each of the 11 characteristics. Note that we did not report
path coefficients separately for husbands and wives because no significant
gender difference was found. For self-scores, we can see that individuals'
standing on seven characteristics significantly predicted
satisfaction. Specifically, people tended to be more satisfied when they
were more educated, older, more physically attractive, healthier, more
spiritual, more growth-oriented, and exercised more. In terms of
partner-scores, there were also seven statistically significant paths, suggesting
that individuals tended to be more satisfied if their spouse was
more educated, younger, married at a younger age, had a lower BMI,
was more physically attractive, healthier, and more growth-oriented.