This study developed a marital typology based on a non-random, national sample of 415 African-American marriages who took the ENRICH marital assessment inventory. The resulting typology was compared with a similar sample of about 7,000 marriages (who also took ENRICH), including distressed couples and those seeking marital enrichment. Five types of African-American marriages were identified through cluster analysis of positive couple agreement (PCA) scores in ten relationship domains. Relationships between marital satisfaction, marital stability and the five marital types were then analyzed. The five types (from highest marital satisfaction to lowest) were labeled as vitalized, harmonious, traditional, conflicted, and devitalized. The study replicated the number and characteristics of marital types found in predominantly European-American marital samples, including the percentage of African-American marriages in each type.

Reference: Journal of Marital & Family Therapy, 2001, Vol. 27, No. 3, 301-314.

Five Types of African-American Marriages