Neurosis occurs in both partners of a marriage more frequently than chance expectation. Hafner accepts the theory of assortive mating, which suggests that partners choose each other on the basis of perceived attributes, some of which are pathological. In assortive mating, improvement in one partner may be resisted by the other on the basis that it disturbs the balance of a relationship in which overt psychopathology plays a significant part. Thirty-three agoraphobic women were studied, and their husbands examined as well. The general conclusion reached is that it is difficult to treat the wife's agoraphobia successfully without also treating the husband.