| Abstract: | Examined attributions for marital difficulties in 18 couples seeking therapy and in 19 couples not seeking therapy; husbands' and wives' average ages were 31.7 and 30.6 yrs, respectively, in the therapy-seeking group and 37.1 and 34.8 yrs, respectively, in the control group. Ss were asked to rate their 2 most important marital difficulties on several dimensions and indicate the extent to which they blamed their spouse for the difficulties. Findings show that distressed spouses were more likely than controls to see their partner and the relationship as the source of their difficulties, perceive the causes of their difficulties as more global, and consider the causes as more reflective of their spouses' negative attitude toward them. Results support the contention that variations in attributional patterns within marriage are related to differences in marital satisfaction. Implications for marital therapy are outlined. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
