High rates of divorce seem related to low marital satisfaction levels; however, there is still a lack of a model that can help understand the couple’s resilience and fragility throughout the life cycle. This research explores the role of communication patterns, their own and partner’s motivation for conjugality, cohesion and flexibility within a couple, and several sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., stage of the family life cycle) that can explain marital satisfaction. A sample of 331 Portuguese in a marital relationship completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and marital satisfaction measures, communication and conflict management competencies, cohesion and flexibility, and motivation. Adequate statistical analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling. Both measurement and structural model performed in the study presented a good fit, with five significant predictors of marital satisfaction (that accounted for 85% of the variability): intrinsic motivation (β = .64), communication (β = .31), families with young children (β = −.08), families with teenagers (β = −.07) and professional/academic status (β = .06). By identifying a model for marital satisfaction, this research provides clues regarding which aspects might need to be considered in couples’ clinical work to promote healthier relationships.

离婚率高似乎与婚姻满意度低有关；然而，仍然缺乏一个模型来帮助了解这对夫妇在整个生命周期中的韧性和脆弱性。这项研究探讨了沟通模式的作用、他们自己和伴侣对夫妻关系、凝聚力和灵活性的动机，以及可以解释婚姻满意度的几个社会人口特征（例如，家庭生命周期的阶段）。331 名处于婚姻关系中的葡萄牙人样本完成了社会人口调查问卷和婚姻满意度测量、沟通和冲突管理能力、凝聚力和灵活性以及动机。使用描述性统计和结构方程模型进行了充分的统计分析。β  = .64）、沟通（β  = .31）、有小孩的家庭（β  = -.08）、有青少年的家庭（β  = -.07）和专业/学术地位（β  = .06）。通过确定婚姻满意度模型，本研究提供了有关在夫妻临床工作中可能需要考虑哪些方面以促进更健康的关系的线索。