Perceived threat and perceived neglect: Couples' underlying concerns during conflict.
The Couples Underlying Concern Inventory assesses 2 fundamental types of distress that couples experience during interpersonal conflict. Perceived threat involves a perception that one's partner is blaming and controlling the self. Perceived neglect involves a perception that one's partner is failing to make desired contributions or investments. Scales measuring these 2 underlying concerns were developed in Study 1, where a sample of 1,224 married people rated a pool of 57 words describing oneself and perceptions of a partner during a specific episode of conflict. Factor analysis identified 2 dimensions, and 2 brief 8-item scales were created. In Study 2, a sample of 2,315 married people completed the resulting 16-item inventory along with 10 self-report scales measuring types of emotion, cognition, and behavior during conflict. A 2-dimensional factor structure was confirmed, and measurement invariance was demonstrated across 4 racial/ethnic groups. Both perceived threat and perceived neglect correlated with relationship satisfaction and conflict communication. More importantly, each concern was associated with a different, and theoretically expected, set of variables regarding self emotion, emotion perceived in a partner, and cognition during conflict.
Sanford
Keith
K
Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798-7334, USA. Keith_Sanford@baylor.edu
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003071:Cognition; D034462:Dissent and Disputes; D004644:Emotions; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005191:Family Characteristics; D054541:Family Conflict / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires