Impact of couple patterns of problem solving on distress and nondistress in dating relationships.

Tested a theory of couple patterns of problem solving that involves the voice/loyalty/neglect typology of problem-solving responses advanced by the 1st author and I. M. Zembrodt (1983). 68 undergraduate dating couples were administered a questionnaire that included a measure of self-reported responses and perceptions of partner's responses, a liking and loving instrument, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Destructive problem-solving responses (exit and neglect) were more powerfully predictive of couple distress/nondistress than were constructive problem-solving behaviors (voice and loyalty). Tendencies to react with voice to mild relationship problems were also significantly predictive of couple functioning. Partner perceptions of one another's problem-solving styles were related to couple distress/nondistress: Distress was greater to the extent that Ss perceived that their partners exhibited greater tendencies to engage in exit and neglect while showing lower levels of voice and (perhaps) loyalty. Certain interdependent patterns of partner problem solving were effectively predictive of couple health: Couple distress was greater to the degree that Ss reacted destructively and failed to respond constructively when their partners engaged in destructive problem-solving responses. Thus it is the way in which partners react in response to destructive behaviors from their partners that is best predictive of relationship health. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)