The relationship between attributions for partner’s negative behavior and subjective quality of marriage Effect of the Frequency of Partner’s Negative Behavior

Abstract

The aim of the study presented in this paper was to examine if the perceived frequency of a partner’s negative behavior moderates the association between lower marital satisfaction and the tendency to attribute partner’s negative behavior to internal, stable and global causes, and to perceive him/her as responsible and blameworthy for such behavior (Hewstone and Fincham, 1996). Participants were 99 men and 103 women who have been married on average about 4 years. Along with the subjective quality of marriage, as assessed with the Marital Adjustment Test (Locke and Wallace, 1959) and attributions of partner’s negative behavior measured by the Relationship Attribution Measure (RAM, Fincham and Bradbury, 1992), we also assessed the frequency of the negative behavior presented in the RAM. In line with our hypothesis, the negative relationship between the level of marital adjustment and the mentioned pattern of attributions for the negative behavior of one’s marital partner was more pronounced in the group of respondents who reported relatively higher frequency of such negative behavior in their marriage during the last month. After controlling this level of one's partner negative behavior, the correlations between particular attributions and marital adjustment were significantly reduced but remained significant. Among the attributions assessed by RAM, the strongest predictor of marital adjustment proved to be causal attributions of negative behavior, and particularly causal stability. Relative inefficacy of attributions of responsibility and blame for the negative behavior in explaining the variance of marital adjustment was interpreted in terms of the appropriateness of their operationalisations in the RAM.