Gender and Conflict Structure in Marital Interaction: A Replication and Extension

Author(s)

Christopher L. Heavey, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Christopher M. Layne, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Andrew Christensen, University of California, Los AngelesFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1993

Publication Title

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Volume

61

Issue/Number

1

ISSN

0022-006X

Abstract/Excerpt

29 married couples engaged in 2 videotaped discussions: 1 in which the husband requested a change in the wife and 1 in which the wife requested a change in the husband. Conflict behavior was assessed by self-report and observer ratings. Neither conflict structure (who requested the change) nor gender was associated with the positivity or negativity of spouses' behavior. During discussions of husbands' issues, wives and husbands did not differ in demand/withdraw behavior, whereas when discussing wives' issues, wives were more demanding and husbands were more withdrawing. Husband-demand/wife-withdraw interaction predicted an increase in wives' satisfaction 1 yr later, whereas wife-demand/husband-withdraw interaction predicted a decline in wives' satisfaction 1 yr later. These results replicate and extend those of an earlier study.

NSUWorks Citation

Heavey, C. L., Layne, C. M., Christensen, A. (1993). Gender and Conflict Structure in Marital Interaction: A Replication and Extension. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61(1).
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/1942