Attributions and anger in early marriage: wives are event-dependent and husbands are schematic

Two types of attribution believed to predict anger in married couples were investigated. Wives' anger was expected to be predicted by event-dependent attributions, appraisals based on the unique aspects of one's current situation. Husbands' anger was expected to be predicted by schematic attributions, appraisals based on one's global sentiment in the relationship. Seventy-seven recently married couples attended 2 assessment sessions, and each couple identified 4 incidents pertaining to unresolved relationship issues. Participants rated their event-dependent attributions and their anger prior to a discussion for each incident. They also completed questionnaires regarding schematic attributions and relationship sentiment. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to distinguish between the 2 types of attribution. Strong support was found for the expected gender differences. Results suggest that wives are particularly attentive to the details of interpersonal interaction.