Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Miller, Philip Carnegie
• Lefcourt, Herbert M
• Holmes, John G
• Ware, Edward E
• Saleh, Wendy E
• Sarason, Irwin G

Titel

Marital Locus of Control and Marital Problem Solving

Ist Teil von

• Journal of personality and social psychology, 1986-07, Vol.51 (1), p.161-169

Ort / Verlag

Washington, DC: American Psychological Association

Erscheinungsjahr

1986

Quelle

Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The relation between individuals' locus of control orientations specific to the marital context (marital locus of control) and their approach to marital problem solving was examined with a sample of 88 couples. Behavioral measures of conflict resolution style and problem-solving ability were derived from videotapes of couples as they dealt with commonly encountered marital conflict situations. We predicted that internals for marital satisfaction would more actively engage in problem solving than externals. We also predicted that couples who confronted problems in a constructive rather than an avoidant or destructive style would arrive at better solutions and would be happier with them. The data support these hypotheses and suggest that internals for marital satisfaction are more active and direct in their problem solving than are externals. Internals were more effective in communicating and achieving their desired goals and reported higher levels of marital satisfaction than externals. Active engagement in the discussion of marital issues by couples resulted in more effective problem solving than styles characterized by avoidance. Destructive marital interaction was related to poor problem solutions and lower self-reported ratings of solution satisfaction. Implications of these findings for an understanding of marital process were discussed.