The Impact of Attributions in Marriage: An Individual Difference Analysis

Abstract

To build upon the well-established association between attributions and satisfaction in marriage, the present study investigates individual difference factors that may (a) affect the nature of attributions that occur in marriage and (b) mediate the impact of attributions on marital satisfaction. Forty-three married couples participated in the study. In addition to obtaining measures of causal attributions and marital satisfaction, four individual differences were assessed, namely perspective taking, dysfunctional relationship beliefs, attributional complexity and self-disclosure. As predicted, unrealistic relationship beliefs and attributional complexity predicted causal attributions. Causal attributions were related to the attributor's marital satisfaction, and wives' attributions were also related to husbands' satisfaction. Wives' self-disclosure was found to mediate the relationship between wives' causal attributions and husbands' satisfaction. However, self-disclosure did not mediate the relationship between causal attributions and one's own satisfaction. The importance of intrapersonal and interpersonal levels of analysis and of individual difference factors in understanding close relationships is emphasized.