Married Couples' Conflict Responses and Marital Quality

Abstract

In order to further our understanding of conflict within a marital relationship, this study had two purposes: (i) to identify married couples' conflict response profiles, and (ii) to relate these conflict profiles to appraisals of marital quality. Spouses in 173 intact married couples completed a questionnaire that included measures of a sample of aggressive, withdrawing, and problem-solving responses occurring during conflict episodes, and indices of marital quality. Cluster analyses of married dyads' conflict responses generated four conceptually interesting profiles - two symmetrical ('distancing couples' and `engaging couples') and two asymmetrical ('distancing husbands' and `distancing wives'). Results indicated that couples who endorse different conflict profiles could be distinguished according to their level of marital adjustment. The advantages to understanding conflict responses within a marriage by studying the couple as the unit of analysis were highlighted.