MOSMANN, Clarisse Pereira; LOMANDO, Eduardo    WAGNER, Adriana. Marital cohesion and adaptability in heterosexual and homosexual men and women. Barbaroi []. 2010, 33, pp.135-152. ISSN 0104-6578.

The diversity of marital relations is an expansion phenomenon that has been making visible different configurations such as gays and lesbian couples. This scenery opens several questions in relation to the way these couples deal with their relationships and what are the differences and similarities between them and heterosexual couples. In order to better understand these aspects, we compared a heterosexual group (149 men and 149 women) with a homosexual group (77 gays men and 34 lesbian women), all of them in a couple relationship, using the FACES III instrument, which measures couple cohesion and adaptability. We compared the groups taking into account the sex of the participants - heterosexual men with gays men, heterosexual women with lesbian women - and gays men with lesbian woman. The data reveals differences between the couple's configurations. The cohesion and adaptability averages within the homosexual group were significantly higher than the heterosexual group. Aspects such as children and marriage as an institution may contribute to reduce the level of marital quality. On the other hand, the higher gender role flexibility and the affection as the essential aspect of the marital relation may also be associated to the higher level of cohesion and adaptability from the same sex couples

: marital relations; homosexuality; heterosexuality.

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