Spouses' Impressions of Rules for Communication in Public and Private Marital Conflicts

Abstract

In 2 studies, spouses generated and assessed rules for communicating in public and private marital conflicts. In Study 1, 16 married couples simulated, on videotape, 2 public and 2 private conflicts. Spouses reviewed the videotapes and generated rules that they felt they followed or broke. In Study 2, 194 married people (86 men and 108 women) rated how often they followed the rules, how important the rules were, and the extent to which the rules applied to different relationships and situations. Five factors emerge from the ratings on rule-following: consideration, rationality, specific self-expression, conflict resolution, and positivity. Further analyses indicate that the rationality rules were a more important consideration in public settings, while the conflict resolution factor was more important in private. Rationality rules also were more important to husbands than to wives but were seen by both as the least important to their marriages. All rules except positivity were rated as more applicable to conflicts than to other situations. Overall, this methodology produced rules that were specific to conflict situations in marriage and emphasized communicative behavior rather than more abstract aspects of the relationship.