The role of cognitions in marital relationships: definitional, methodological, and conceptual issues

Although there have recently been numerous investigations exploring the role of couples' cognitions in an attempt to understand marital distress, at present there is little cohesion and direction in the study of how couples think about their relationships. The current article asserts that this lack of direction results from at least three factors: (a) a lack of delineation of the important cognitive variables to be considered in marital functioning, (b) conceptual and methodological difficulties that arise in attempts to operationalize cognitive variables, and (c) a dearth of models of marital functioning that incorporate cognitions in a detailed manner. These three factors are discussed, along with a review of empirical investigations supporting the importance of cognitions in intimate relationships.