The role of cognitions in marital relationships has received increasing attention. Specific beliefs about marital relationships have shown consistent correlations with overall marital satisfaction. As a measure of dysfunctional beliefs about intimate relationships, the Relationship Belief Inventory provides five dysfunctional beliefs scores. This study extended research in the area of unrealistic beliefs and marital satisfaction in two ways. The first was the development of an additional measure of Beliefs About Relationship Change. The second focus of this research was the use of a multidimensional measure of marital satisfaction in response to the call for mapping of different beliefs and different domains of marital interaction/satisfaction. Married couples (N=36) participated in the study. Multiple regression procedures showed that: global marital distress is predicted by dysfunctional beliefs that the included partners are unable to change, disagreement is destructive, and the sexes are dramatically different. The Beliefs About Relationship Change Inventory demonstrated preliminary promise as a measure of dysfunctional beliefs and the pattern of correlations supported the need for continued efforts to identify between specific beliefs and areas of marital distress. The application of cognitive models to marital problems is a promising area for increasing the effectiveness of martial therapy. (Author/ABL)