• Five Types of Married Couples based on ENRICH
  Olson and Fowers (1993)
• Four Types of Premarital Couples based on PREPARE
  Fowers and Olson (1992)

Five Types of Married Couples based on ENRICH (1993)
David H. Olson & Blaine J. Fowers (1993)
This study identified five distinct types of married couples from a sample of 6,267 couples, using the marital inventory ENRICH. Profiles were derived using a three-stage cluster analytic procedure, including an exploratory cluster analysis, a replication of the exploratory results, and a cross-validation. The five-cluster solution was robust. Vitalized couples (12%) reported high relationship quality on all dimensions. Harmonious couples (11%) had relatively high relationship quality. Traditional couples (16%) had scores that were slightly above average with markedly higher scores on parenting and religious scales. Conflicted couples (25%) were characterized by moderately low scores on all but the roles scale. The Devitalized couples (36%) had the lowest scores on every ENRICH dimension.

Reference: The Family Journal, 1993, Vol. 1, No. 3, 196-207

Four Types of Premarital Couples based on PREPARE (1992)
Blaine J. Fowers & David H. Olson (1992)
This study identified 4 types of engaged couples from a sample of 5,030 couples, using the premarital inventory PREPARE. Profiles were derived using a 3-stage clustering analytic procedure, including an exploratory cluster analysis, a replication of the exploratory results, and a cross-validation analysis. All indicated that the 4-cluster solution was the best. The Vitalized couples (28%) reported high scores on all dimensions. Harmonious couples (27%) had moderately positive relationship quality. Traditional couples (23%) had moderately low intrarelationship scores but scored higher on scales assessing planning for marriage. Conflicted couples (22%) were characterized by pervasively low scores.

Reference: Journal of Family Psychology, 1992. Vol. 6, No. 1, 10-21.