The impact of attributions in marriage: empirical and conceptual foundations

Although a reliable association between attributions and concurrent marital satisfaction has been documented, the dominant role assigned to attributions in cognitively oriented accounts of marital dysfunction lacks a firm empirical foundation. To redress this imbalance, the major ideas guiding theoretical analyses of attributions in marriage are identified, namely, that attributions (a) initiate or maintain marital dissatisfaction and (b) mediate the behaviour exchanges characteristic of distressed and non-distressed marriages. Four studies are reported that provide initial support for these hypotheses. In view of these findings, the distinction between private and communicated attributions underlying this research is used to guide the development of an integrative framework relating attributions, behaviour and marital satisfaction. The relevance of this framework for future research and for marital therapy is discussed.