Tested the hypothesis that distressed spouses are more reactive to immediate events than nondistressed couples. Couples recorded positive, negative and neutral events and satisfaction levels. Distressed couples reported lower rates of positive behavior and that marital satisfaction depended more on frequency of recent positive or negative events.…

Examined susceptibility of marital observations to purposeful faking. Behavioral observations of couples' problem-solving behavior during a conflict-eliciting task were obtained under neutral instructions and under instruction to fake. Evidence for differential responsiveness of marital types to faking instructions was limited and evident only in…

Data from 180 divorced and remarried men and women suggest lack of normative integration of two relationships established by remarriage after divorce. Women were less acceptant; they preferred greater social distance in former spouse-current spouse interaction. Comparisons of expectations for men and women showed no differential standards by…

Compared interactions of 11 dissatisfied and 11 satisfied couples on basis of trained observers' ratings of spouses' behavior through time on 3 scales: withdrawn/involved, hostile/friendly, and displeasure/pleasure. Dissatisfied coupled evidenced significantly lower mean ratings of hostility and displeasure, but no differences in withdrawal.…

It was hypothesized that unhappily married couples would show a deficit in problem solving by indicating significantly more unresolved problems and would indicate less involvement with one another in both elective free-time activities and shared sexuality. All hypotheses were confirmed. (Author)

Applied a behavioral model of marriage to premarital couples to assess predictive validity of an exchange measure. Results provide evidence that unrewarding communication patterns precede development of relationship distress. Implications for the behavioral model of marriage and development of programs designed to prevent marital distress are…

Examined the relationship of instrumental and affectional behavioral events to short- and long-term marital satisfaction. Results showed a significant negative relationship between frequency of displeasurable instrumental events and ratings of marital satisfaction. The most important finding was the degree to which wives' self-esteem correlated…

Negative affect and negative affect reciprocity appear to be robust properties of marital interaction, and they also have been found to discriminate satisfied from dissatisfied marriages. There is more evidence of consistency across tasks using sequential rather than nonsequential variables. (Author)

The study focuses on the relationship of life event stress and marital dysfunction. Couples in which one or both partners were receiving marital counseling had experienced a significantly greater amount of life stress events during the previous 12-month period than had couples who were not experiencing marital dysfunction. (Author)

Used an exchange theory model to examine the remarriage behavior of 26 financially secure and insecure women. Results showed financially secure women had more opportunities to date but were more likely to be independent in their relationships with men and less anxious to remarry. (JAC)

Examined the reliability of spouses as observers of the behaviors that occur in their own marital relationships. Distressed and nondistressed couples collected data in the home. Across the entire checklist, nondistressed couples exhibited significantly greater consensus than did distressed couples, based on both percentage agreement and kappa.…

Distressed couples were more critical of each other and less responsive to each other's influence efforts. Distressed and nondistressed couples were similar in their frequencies of inquiries and solution proposals. Criticism and responsiveness were important predictors of both satisfaction with outcomes and attainment of resolutions. (Author)

Little evidence exists about either the short or long-term effects of coping strategies on the reduction of emotional distress or the lessening of problems. To examine the predictors and effectiveness of four marital coping efforts (negotiation, optimistic comparison, selective ignoring, and resignation), data derived from a panel study of 758…

This study investigated the ability of maritally-adjusted couples (N=12), couples attaining a divorce (N=5), and couples in counseling (N=9) to predict rewarding effects of their behavior on their spouse. The maritally-adjusted group was always more accurate in their predictions, but significantly more accurate only for selected areas of…

Parents completed the Locke-Wallace Scale, the Interpersonal Checklist, and the Children's Behavior Checklist to assess marital satisfaction, congruence of perceptions, and agreement in perceptions of their child and child adjustment. Variables were positively intercorrelated. Similarity in partners' self-concepts and psychological empathy were…