Perceived Partner Commitment and Attachment Style

Abstract

Commitment is an important correlate of many relationship variables, including length of the relationship (Hendrick, Hendrick, & Adler, 1988), likelihood of breakup (Lund, 1985), relationship satisfaction (Acker & Davis, 1992), and partner satisfaction (Hendrick et al., 1988). Accordingly, commitment is of interest to marital therapists both as a potential predictor of therapy outcome and as an outcome in its own right (Beach & Broderick, 1983). However, because differences in commitment reflect deeply rooted individual differences in beliefs about the importance of relationships, the trustworthiness and availability of others, and one’s own ability to maintain a relationship, many therapists and marital researchers views commitment as relatively refractory to therapeutic intervention. In the current chapter, we hope to develop a cognitive characterization of commitment that will generate less pessimistic predictions about the possibility of change in level of commitment and may point toward new possible technologies for producing change in level of felt commitment and in perceived partner commitment.