Predicting marital distress and dissolution: refining the two-factor hypothesis.
Measures of communication, hostility, and neuroticism taken from 85 couples from Germany before marriage were used to predict marital outcomes 5 years later. Hostility and neuroticism discriminated between couples who separated or divorced after 5 years and those who remained married, whereas communication discriminated between married-satisfied and married- dissatisfied couples. Only hostility and neuroticism predicted marital satisfaction at 18 months, suggesting that these factors contribute to rapid, early declines in marital functioning. The authors conclude that poor communication alone cannot account for the full range of marital outcomes and that skill-based models of marriage can be strengthened by considering relatively rare exchanges between partners (e.g., aggression) and their enduring vulnerabilities (e.g., neuroticism).
Department of Clinical and Social Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA. rogge@psych.rochester.edu
Ronald D
RD
Rogge
Thomas N
TN
Bradbury
Kurt
K
Hahlweg
Jochen
J
Engl
Franz
F
Thurmaier
D003142:Communication; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004243:Divorce / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires