Thomas N. Bradbury

The Psychology of marriage : basic issues and applications

Thirteen papers highlight and evaluate the contributions that psychologists have made to understanding marriage, addressing topics such as interdependence, gender differences and sex-role identity, psychopathology, sexual dysfunction, physical aggression. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portla

The impact of attributions in marriage: a longitudinal analysis.

In this study, we investigate the longitudinal relation between attributions for relationship events and marital satisfaction. Thirty-four couples were assessed at two points separated by approximately 12 months. Causal and responsibility attributions for marital difficulties and negative spouse behaviors were strongly related to concurrent marital satisfaction. For wives, later marital satisfaction was predicted by both causal and responsibility attributions after the effects of earlier satisfaction were removed. For husbands, attributions did not predict later marital satisfaction. Marital satisfaction did not predict later attributions for either husbands or wives. Marital satisfaction and the two types of attributions were related to concurrent unrealistic relationship expectations, but these expectations did not predict later marital satisfaction. The results are discussed in terms of a possible causal relation between attributions and marital satisfaction.

Affect and Cognition in Close Relationships: Towards an Integrative Model

Abstract Research relating to affective and cognitive processes in close relationships is briefly reviewed to illustrate the existence of two virtually independent literatures. It is argued that current approaches to research therefore hinder a comprehensive understanding of close relationships. To initiate an integration of affect and cognition in this domain, central findings are re-analysed with the intent of bringing a cognitive perspective to bear on ostensibly affective research, and vice versa. Several propositions specifying the interdependence of affect and cognition are outlined, and a preliminary model of affective and cognitive processing of behavioural events in marital interaction is introduced and illustrated.

Cognitive processes and conflict in close relationships: an attribution-efficacy model.

A recently proposed model of cognitive processes underlying conflict in close relationships (Doherty, 1978, 1981a, 1981b) is revised and tested in two studies. Central to the original model are the causal attributions made for conflict and the perceived efficacy or ability to resolve conflict. The model is revised to incorporate judgments of responsibility and to provide a closer link to self-efficacy theory. The first study examines attributions and efficacy expectations in mother-child relationships. As anticipated, only weak evidence was obtained for predictions retained from the original model, high-lighting the relationship-specific nature of cognitive processes for conflict in families. A second study examines husband-wife relationships and provides evidence for the usefulness of an attribution-efficacy model for marital conflict. The attributional component of the model received greater support than that pertaining to efficacy expectations. In both studies, support was obtained for the proposal that the relation between conflict dimensions (e.g., blame) and causal dimensions is mediated by judgments of responsibility. The significance of the revisions to Dohertys model for understanding conflict in close relationships is discussed, and several avenues for further research are outlined.

Marital distress, depression, and attributions: is the marital distress-attribution association an artifact of depression?

We examined whether the association between marital distress and attributions is an artifact of depression. Study 1 showed that the attributions of 40 wives recruited from the community accounted for variance in their marital satisfaction after the effects of depression had been taken into account. Study 2 compared the attributions of 20 clinically depressed and maritally distressed wives (respondents to an advertisement offering therapy for depression and marital problems), 20 nondepressed but distressed wives (clients seeking marital therapy at a clinic), and a control group of 20 nondepressed and nondistressed wives (respondents to an advertisement for participants in a research project). The first two groups did not differ in attributions, but the attributions of both groups differed from those of the control group. Both studies therefore suggest that the association between attributions and marital satisfaction is not due to depression.

Unintended effects of marital research on marital relationships.

Psychologists studying marriage have little guidance in understanding and controlling the unintended effects of their research procedures. To address this problem, spouses were asked to report their reactions to participating in a laboratory session and a mail survey.

Social Support in Marriage

Social support is a widely used construct in the psychological literature. Although multiple conceptions of the construct have been offered, an issue common to many analyses is the extent to which support is perceived or experienced by recipients of “supportive” behaviors. In this chapter, we offer a cognitive framework designed to illuminate the construct of “perceived support.” Our analysis focuses on perceived support in marriage, as this relationship provides a relatively homogeneous context within which to examine a number of important issues regarding social support, the resolution of which may have implications for the literature on social support in general. This chapter does not attempt, however, to redefine social support, provide a new theory of social support processes in marriage, or argue that support processes in marriage are fundamentally different from support obtained in other enduring, intimate relationships. Mindful of the need for new perspectives in the social support area that integrate the influences of social context with concern for the match of specific Stressors to socially supportive responses and the cognitive component of support (e. g., Pierce, Sarason, & Sarason, 1990; I. G. Sarason, B. R. Sarason, & Pierce, 1994), we provide herein a cognitive framework for examining the impact of supportive (and nonsupportive) transactions on “perceived support.”

Enhancement of couples' communication and dyadic coping by a self-directed approach: a randomized controlled trial.

Although prevention of relationship distress and dissolution has potential to strengthen the well-being of partners and any children they are raising, dissemination of prevention programs can be limited because couples face many barriers to in-person participation. An alternative strategy, providing couples with an instructional DVD, is tested in the present study, in which 330 Caucasian couples (N = 660 participants; mean age: men 41.4 years, women 40.0 years) were randomly assigned to a DVD group without any further support, a DVD group with technical telephone coaching, or a wait-list control group. Couples completed questionnaires at pretest, posttest, and 3 and 6 months after completion of the intervention. Self-report measures of dyadic coping, communication quality, ineffective arguing, and relationship satisfaction were used to test whether the intervention groups improved in comparison with the control group. Women in both intervention groups increased in dyadic coping, reduced conflict behavior, and were more satisfied with their relationship 6 months after the intervention. Effects for men were mixed. Participants with poorer skills reported stronger improvement. Intimate relationships can, within limits, be positively influenced by a self-directed approach. Effective dissemination of principles underlying successful relationships can be facilitated through the use of emerging low-cost tools and technologies.

Effects of Stress on the Social Support Provided by Men and Women in Intimate Relationships

Although evolutionary and social-structural models predict that women will be more supportive than men in relationships, behavioral studies fail to confirm this difference. We predicted instead that gender differences in support will be moderated by stress, and that men will provide lower-quality support primarily when their stress is high. We predicted further that the detrimental effects of stress on men’s support will be more evident when men are responding to women’s emotionally toned expressions of stress than when men are responding to women’s affectively neutral expressions of stress. Stressed and unstressed men and women were observed providing support to a stressed relationship partner. While unstressed, men and women generally provided similar support to the stressed partner. While stressed, men provided lower-quality support than did comparably stressed women, but only in response to emotionally toned expressions of stress. Thus, gender differences in support may arise because women are better able than men to regulate other people’s emotional distress while managing stresses of their own.

Predicting relationship satisfaction in distressed and non-distressed couples based on a stratified sample: a matter of conflict, positivity, or support?

Spousal interactions are key predictors of relationship satisfaction in couples, but it is not yet sufficiently clear as to which aspect of spousal interactions matters most. In this study, three forms of interactions are examined to disentangle their unique associations with relationship satisfaction. Altogether, 1944 married individuals completed questionnaires in a cross-sectional study. Self-report measures of relationship external stress, negative interactions (NIs), positive interactions (PIs), dyadic coping (DC), and relationship satisfaction were assessed. A multigroup path analytical mediation model was used to test whether couple interactions mediate the association between stress and relationship satisfaction. Stress stemming from outside the relationship is highly associated with an increase in NIs and a decrease in DC. Although all interactions covaried significantly with relationship satisfaction, DC outperformed PI and NI. Being supported by the partner in times of need (i.e. after experiencing relationship external stress) seems to be particularly relevant for marital quality.