Attachment Style, Marital Satisfaction, Commitment, and Communal Strength Effects on Relational Repair Message Interpretation among Remarrieds

Abstract

This article examines the influence of attachment style and several relational variables on the interpretation of relational repair messages. Participants were 191 remarried individuals who completed questionnaires that measured marital satisfaction, attachment style, commitment, communal strength, and interpretations of hypothetical repair messages from their spouses with varying levels of equivocation. Interpretations were measured along the dimensions of honesty, competence, and politeness using Likert-type scales developed and successfully employed in previous research. Results of regression and MANOVA analyses found that, as predicted, each of the relational variables positively influenced repair message interpretation, and that attachment styles also influenced these interpretations. Results are discussed in terms of the need for relational repair research that makes use of broader predictive models and deals with both production and interpretation of repair messages.