Dr Finkel Is a Social Psychologist Who Studies Romantic Relationships

Dr. Finkel is a social psychologist who studies romantic relationships. Several researchers have found that there is a link between income and marital satisfaction (e.g., Dakin & Wampler, 2012) . Dr. Finkel is curious as to whether there is a causal link between the two variables, such that having a higher income causes higher levels of marital satisfaction. He is confident that he cannot reasonably or ethically manipulate people's income level, so he decides to use a multivariate design. He is also curious as to whether there is a causal link between these two variables or if two other variables (number of arguments and life satisfaction) can explain the relationship. He measures his three variables in a sample of 124 married couples recruited from a local community center. Below are his results.

One of Dr. Finkel's colleagues argues that he should have considered years of marriage in his study, which is a known predictor of marital satisfaction. If Dr. Finkel conducts his study again and asks people to report on how many years they have been married as well, which of the following statements is true?

A) The beta value for number of arguments may no longer be statistically significant.
B) The beta value for number of arguments will remain unchanged.
C) He will need to add another criterion variable.
D) He will need to delete a predictor variable.