Marital idealisation between older husbands and wives over time

Marital idealisation is defined as an interpersonal mode of self-deception by which one conveys an exceedingly positive portrayal of his/her spouse and marriage. This phenomenon entails a propensity to discount negative interpersonal perceptions and experience (e.g., ‘If my spouse has any faults, I am not aware of them’, ‘My spouse has never made me angry’). Marital idealisation is not significantly associated with purposeful distortion (i.e., impression management). In other words, these spouses credibly hold idealised beliefs and perceptions however implausible to the outside observer.