title: Avoidance orientation and the escalation of negative communication in intimate relationships.
abstract: Avoidance goals heighten the salience of negative social experiences, and in intimate relationships such an orientation may contribute to communication difficulties and the perpetuation of avoidance. We therefore hypothesized that individuals with stronger avoidance goals would be particularly prone to engage in escalating levels of negative communication with their intimate partner, and we tested this prediction by conducting sequential analyses on videotaped observational data (28,470 observations) collected from 365 heterosexual couples engaging in a relationship-related conflict. While less avoidance-oriented spouses showed a decline in their likelihood of negative communication over the course of the 8-min conflict discussion, the likelihood that more avoidance-oriented spouses would display negative communication behaviors remained at a high level. The likelihood of negative communication even increased when avoidance-oriented spouses were confronted with negative communication behavior of their partners. The effects of avoidance orientation were independent of relationship satisfaction and neuroticism. These findings demonstrate that avoidance goals underlie individuals' heightened reactivity to the partner's negative behavior, while also clarifying 1 possible reason why some individuals engage in communication behaviors that may prove maladaptive to their relationship.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology-Psychology of Emotion, Motivation and Volition.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuster
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology-Psychology of Emotion, Motivation and Volition.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bernecker
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology-Psychology of Emotion, Motivation and Volition.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Backes
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology-Psychology of Emotion, Motivation and Volition.
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brandstätter
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Psychological Methods and Evaluation, Bielefeld University.
authors.forename: Fridtjof W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Nussbeck
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology-Clinical Psychology, University of California.
authors.forename: Thomas N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Bradbury
authors.affiliation: University Research Priority Program, Dynamics of Healthy Aging, University of Zurich.
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology-Clinical Psychology for Children/Adolescents, and Couples/Families, University of Zurich.
authors.forename: Dorothee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sutter-Stickel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology-Clinical Psychology for Children/Adolescents, and Couples/Families, University of Zurich.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bodenmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D055815:Young Adult