Our review shows that previous research has not examined couple
similarity on some important stimulus characteristics. On the ones
that previous research did explore, they were usually studied in an isolated
fashion through correlation and/or regression techniques. In the
current study, we aim to extend previous research by first testing the
evidence for couple similarity on an array of stimulus characteristics in
a large married sample. Moreover, we seek to test the role of couple
similarity on stimulus characteristics in marital satisfaction by a structural
equation modeling (SEM) approach that allows us to model husbands
and wives' satisfaction simultaneously. Based on the review
above, we propose that couples will show strong similarity correlations
on stimulus characteristics (Hypothesis 1) and that variation in couple
similarity on stimulus characteristics will be a positive yet modest predictor
of satisfaction (Hypothesis 2).