Attribution processes in distressed and nondistressed couples: 5. Real versus hypothetical events

Abstract

The majority of studies on attribution in marriage have examined hypothetical behaviors, raising the possibility that results are not applicable to actual marital events. In addition, it is not known whether attribution biases found for partner versus self-behavior in distressed and nondistressed spouses occur for clinically relevant problem behaviors. To examine these issues, wives seeking marital therapy and nondistressed wives from the community made responsibility attributions for self- and partner behaviors identified as problematic for the relationship and for hypothetical behaviors used in past research. The pattern of responses obtained for distressed and nondistressed groups was not affected by the real or hypothetical nature of the behavior. In addition, attributions for problem-related and hypothetical behaviors predicted marital satisfaction equally well. In regard to attribution biases, distressed spouses saw their own behavior as more unselfishly motivated and unintentional than spouse behavior. Nondistressed spouses made equally benign attributions for both self- and partner behavior. The conceptual and clinical significance of the results are outlined.