An exploration of marital interaction: the relationship between Gottman's conflict resolution style and 'four horsemen', attachment theory, perception, gender and marital satisfaction
Creators: name: Whelan, Susan E.
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: The purpose of the current study was to examine links between Gottman's (1994, 1999) conflict resolution (CR) styles and marital distress indicators (the four horsemen), adult attachment, and Snyder's (1997) marital satisfaction inventory. (MSI-R). One hundred and one heterosexual couples (202 individuals; mean age = 43.5 years, SD = 11.15), currently involved in a marital style relationship (length of relationship M = 19 years, SD = 10.8), were recruited via undergraduate psychology students at a Melbourne university, who requested the questionnaires be completed by their parents or other relatives if they were not eligible for inclusion, and via a Melbourne relationship counselling centre. No evidence was found for matching of conflict resolution styles between partners in the couples, therefore hypotheses testing matching of conflict resolution style against marital distress indicators, marital satisfaction and attachment orientation were not supported. Women were found to score higher on the anxiety adult attachment dimension than men, but no gender differences were found on the 'avoidance' adult attachment dimension. Hypotheses testing links between adult attachment and Gottman's conflict resolution styles (CR) were supported. Participants classified into the secure attachment category were found to score significantly higher in validating CR than those classified as avoidant (dismissive or fearful), and significantly lower in volatile CR than preoccupied participants. Avoidant CR scores were found to be significantly lower amongst secure women than dismissive women, and amongst secure men than both dismissive and fearful men. The hypothesis that women would be higher in contempt and criticism than men was supported, whilst the prediction that men would be higher in stonewalling than women was not supported. Participants classified as secure were associated with lower levels of marital distress indicators and marital dissatisfaction variables than those classified as insecure, as predicted; however some gender differences were apparent in the pattern of differences between the attachment groups in these variables. The hypothesis testing partners' similarity to one another on Gottman's marital distress indicators was not supported; however strong support was found for the notion that partners believed themselves to be similar to their partners on these variables. The hypothesis that secure or dismissive participants would have greater perceived similarity than preoccupied or fearful participants was supported for men but not for women. The prediction that anxious attachment scores would be associated with higher accuracy of partner perception was supported for women but not for men. The prediction that anxious attachment would decrease with age and length of relationship was supported for women but not for men; and the final prediction that accuracy of partner perception would diminish with length of relationship was supported for men but not for women. Overall, results of the current study indicate that there are subtle differences between men and women in the experience of distress in marital relationships, as well as in how relationships change over time. Further, the current research offers evidence that the conflict resolution styles proposed by Gottman may be related to attachment orientation, and may offer some explanation as to how various attachment needs are met via these different methods of marital interaction.