Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test (MAT)

The Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test (MAT), also known as the Short Marital Adjustment Test (SMAT), is a widely used and classic 15-item self-report questionnaire developed by Locke and Wallace in 1959. Its primary purpose is to assess marital satisfaction and adjustment within married couples. Despite its age, it's still frequently used in research and clinical settings, though some questions have been raised about the relevance of some language and concepts for modern relationships.

How the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test is Scored:

The scoring of the Locke-Wallace MAT is a bit more nuanced than a simple sum of a single Likert scale, as it uses varying response scales for different items. However, the overall principle is that higher scores indicate greater marital adjustment and satisfaction.

Here's a breakdown of the typical scoring method:

Variety of Scales: The 15 items use a mix of response formats:

• Item 1 (General Happiness): This is usually a 7-point Likert-type scale, ranging from "Very Unhappy" to "Perfectly Happy." The points assigned can range, for example, from 0 (Very Unhappy) to 35 (Perfectly Happy), with intermediate values for the other points. This item often carries a higher weight in the total score due to its broader range.
• Items 2-9 (Agreement/Disagreement on Specific Issues): These items typically use a 6-point ordinal scale, ranging from "Always Agree" to "Always Disagree," covering topics like finances, recreation, affection, friends, sex relations, conventionality, philosophy of life, and in-laws. For these, "Always Agree" usually gets the highest points (e.g., 5 points), and "Always Disagree" gets the lowest (e.g., 0 points).
• Items 10-15 (Specific Questions about the Relationship): These are typically multiple-choice questions with different point assignments for each option. Examples include:
  • How disagreements are resolved (e.g., husband giving in, wife giving in, mutual agreement, with mutual agreement getting the highest points).
  • Engagement in outside interests together (e.g., all of them, some of them, very few, none, with "all of them" getting the most points).
  • Leisure time preferences for both partners (e.g., "stay at home for both" gets the highest points, "on the go for both" gets fewer, and "disagreement" gets the least).
  • Wishing not to have married (e.g., "never" gets the most points).
  • If life were to be lived over, marrying the same person (e.g., "marry the same person" gets the most points).
  • Confiding in one's mate (e.g., "in everything" or "in most things" gets the most points).

Point Assignment: Each response option on each item has a predetermined point value. These values are summed to create a total score. It's crucial that the scoring key is not visible to the respondents when they are taking the test.

Total Score: The scores from all 15 items are summed to arrive at a total marital adjustment score.

• Possible Range: The total score typically ranges from 2 to 158.

Interpretation:

• Higher scores indicate greater marital adjustment and satisfaction.
• Lower scores suggest greater marital dissatisfaction or distress.

Cut-off Score: A common cut-off score used to differentiate between "distressed" and "non-distressed" marriages is 100.

• Scores of 100 or above are generally considered indicative of a well-adjusted or non-distressed marriage.
• Scores below 100 are often considered indicative of marital distress or dissatisfaction.
• Some sources also provide ranges: for instance, 100-158 for "High Acuity" (well-adjusted), 85-99 for "Moderate Acuity," and 2-84 for "Low Acuity" (distressed).
• The original authors found an average score of 72 for distressed couples and 136 for non-distressed individuals.
• This app implements the acuity scale.