Interpersonal Patterns in Alcoholic Marriages

Abstract

In a previous study (Drewery and Rae, 1969), using the Interpersonal Perception Technique (I.P.T.) (Drewery, 1969), it was found that while the husbands and wives of the non-patient marriages had a clear concept of masculinity which they shared, the partners in the alcoholic marriages lacked this consensus; they were confused about the male socio-sexual role, and this confusion expressed itself in a conflictful interplay of dependence and independence needs. The conclusions then reported were applied to alcoholic marriages as if they formed a homogeneous group. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that when alcoholic marriages are dichotomized in terms of the wives' Pd characteristics, two qualitatively and quantitatively distinct marital patterns would be revealed.