Marital Intimacy Needs Questionnaire: Preliminary Report

Satisfaction with the intimacy one experiences in marriage is thought to be an important aspect of a successful marriage. For many clinicians and family researchers, intimacy has been narrowly conceptualized as a unidimensional construct and unidirectional process. The author, however, conceptualizes intimacy as a multifaceted construct. Furthermore, intimacy is seen as a dynamic, bidirectional, interactive, and reciprocal process that occurs between spouses. The author identifies nine dimensions of intimacy, each having four interrelated components. Clinical assessments of these dimensions and components can be accomplished by use of the Marital Intimacy Needs Questionnaire. This article offers the reader an introduction to the instrument.