Gender and conflict structure in marital interaction: a replication and extension

Twenty-nine married couples engaged in 2 videotaped discussions: 1 in which the husband requested a change in the wife and 1 in which the wife requested a change in the husband. Conflict behavior was assessed by self-report and observer ratings. Neither conflict structure (who requested the change) nor gender was associated with the positivity or negativity of spouses' behavior. During discussions of husbands' issues, wives and husbands did not differ in demand/withdraw behavior, whereas when discussing wives' issues, wives were more demanding and husbands were more withdrawing. Husband-demand/wife-withdraw interaction predicted an increase in wives' satisfaction 1 year later, whereas wife-demand/husband-withdraw interaction predicted a decline in wives' satisfaction 1 year later. These results replicate and extend those of our earlier study (Christensen & Heavey, 1990).