Abstract
Causal and responsibility attributions for spouse behavior are examined in couples seeking therapy and in nondistressed community couples. Eighty spouses rated the causes of positive and negative partner behaviors, made attributions of responsibility for the behaviors, indicated their affective impact, and, finally, specified what they would do in response to each behavior. Distressed spouses saw the causes of negative partner behavior as more global and considered the behavior to be more negative in intent, selfishly motivated, and blameworthy than did nondistressed spouses. The inverse pattern of results was obtained for positive spouse behavior. Only responsibility attributions predicted the affective impact and intended responses to the behavior. These findings are discussed in terms of the role of attribution processes in martial dysfunction, and their implications for therapy are outlined.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berley, R. A., & Jacobson, N. S. (1984). Causal attributions in intimate relationships: Toward a model of cognitive-behavioral marital therapy. In P. Kendall (Ed.),Advances in cognitive-behavioral research and therapy (Vol. 3). New York: Academic Press.
Brewin, C. R. (1984). Attributions for industrial accidents: Their relationship to rehabilitation outcome.Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2 156–164.
Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests.Psychometrica, 16 297–334.
Darlington, R. B. (1968). Multiple regression in psychological research and practice.Psychological Bulletin, 69 161–182.
Doherty, W. J. (1981a). Cognitive processes in intimate conflict: I. Extending attribution theory.American Journal of Family Therapy, 9 1–13.
Doherty, W. J. (1981b). Cognitive processes in intimate conflict: II. Efficacy and learned helplessness.American journal of Family Therapy, 9 35–44.
Doherty, W. J. (1982). Attribution style and negative problem solving in marriage.Family Relations, 31 23–27.
Epstein, N. (1982). Cognitive therapy with couples.American Journal of Family Therapy, 10 5–16.
Epstein, N., & Eidelson, R. J. (1981). Unrealistic beliefs of clinical couples: Their relationship to expectations, goals and satisfaction.American Journal of Family Therapy, 9 13–22.
Fincham, F. D. (1983). Clinical applications of attribution theory: Problems and prospects. In M. Hewstone (Ed.),Attribution theory: Social and functional extensions. Oxford: Blackwells.
Fincham, F. D. (1985a). Attribution in close relationships. In J. H. Harvey & G. Weary (Eds.),Contemporary attribution theory and research. New York: Academic Press.
Fincham, F. D. (1985b). Attribution processes in distressed and nondistressed couples: 2. Responsibility for marital problems.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94 183–190.
Fincham, F. D. (1985c). Outcome valence and situational constraints in the responsibility attributions of children and adults.Social Cognition, 3 218–233.
Fincham, F. D., & Jaspars, J. M. F. (1980). From man the scientist to man as lawyer. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.),Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 13). New York: Academic Press.
Fincham, F. D., & O'Leary, K. D. (1983). Causal inferences for spouse behavior in maritally distressed and nondistressed couples.Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 1 42–57.
Fincham, F. D., & Roberts, C. (1985). Intervening causation and the mitigation of responsibility for harm doing: II The role of limited mental capacities.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 21 178–194.
Fincham, F. D., & Shultz, T. R. (1981). Intervening causation and the mitigation of responsibility for harm doing.British Journal of Social Psychology, 20 113–120.
Geiss, S. K., & O'Leary, K. D. (1981). Therapist ratings of frequency and severity of marital problems: Implications for research.Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 7 515–520.
Harvey, J. H., & Weary, G. (1983). Attribution theory. In M. R. Rosenzweig & L. M. Porter (Eds.),Annual review of psychology (Vol. 34). Palo Alto: Annual Review Inc.
Holtzworth-Munroe, A., & Jacobson, N. S. (1985). Causal attributions of married couples: When do they search for causes? What do they conclude when they do?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48 1398–1412.
Jacobson, N. S., Follette, W. C., & McDonald, D. W. (1982). Reactivity to positive and negative behavior in distresssed and nondistressed married couples.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50 706–714.
Jacobson, N. S., & Margolin, G. (1979).Marital therapy. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
Jacobson, N. S., McDonald, D. W., Follette, W. C., & Berley, R. A. (1985). Attribution processes in distressed and nondistressed married couples.Cognitive Therapy and Research, 9 35–50.
Jacobson, N. S., Waldron, H., & Moore, D. (1980). Toward a behavioral profile of marital distress.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48 696–703.
Kelley, H. H., & Michela, J. L. (1980). Attribution theory and research. In M. R. Rosenzweig & L. M. Porter (Eds.),Annual review of psychology (Vol. 31). Palo Alto: Annual Review Inc.
Levenson, R. W. & Gottman, J. M. (1983). Martial interaction: Physiological linkage and affective exchange.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45 587–597.
Lloyd-Bostock, S. (1983). Attributions of cause and responsibility as social phenomena. In J. Jaspars, F. Fincham, & M. Hewstone (Eds.),Attribution theory and research. London: Academic Press.
Locke, H. J., & Wallace, K. M. (1959). Short marital-adjustment and prediction tests: Their reliability and validity.Marriage and Family Living, 21 251–255.
Newman, H. (1981a). Communication within ongoing intimate relationships: An attributional perspective.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 7 59–70.
Newman, H. (1981b). Interpretation and explanation: Influences on communicative exchanges within intimate relationships.Communicative Quarterly, 8 123–132.
Newman, H., & Langer, E. J. (1983). Investigating the development and courses of intimate relationships: A cognitive model. In L. Y. Abramson (Ed.),Social-personal inference in clinical psychology. New York: Guilford Press.
O'Leary, K. D., Fincham, F., & Turkewitz, H. (1983). Assessment of positive feelings toward spouse.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51 949–951.
Orvis, B. R., Kelley, H. H., & Butler, D. (1976). Attributional conflict in young couples. In J. H. Harvey, W. Ickes, & R. Kidd (Eds.),New directions in attributions research (Vol. 1). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum.
Passer, M. W., Kelley, H. H., & Michela, J. L. (1978). Multidimensional scaling of the causes for negative interpersonal behavior.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36 951–962.
Patterson, G. R. (1982).Coersive family process. Eugene, Oregon: Castalia.
Peterson, C., Semmel, A., von Baeyer, C., Abramson, L. Y., Metalsky, G. M., & Seligman, M. E. (1982). The Attribution Style Questionnaire.Cognitive Therapy and Research, 6 287–300.
Peterson, C., Villanova, P., & Raps, C. S. (1985). Depression and attributions: Factors responsible for inconsistent results in the published literature.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94 165–168.
Revensdorf, D. (1984). Attribution of marital distress. In K. Hahlweg & N. Jacobson (Eds.),Marital interaction: Analysis and modification. New York: Guilford Press.
Shultz, T. R., & Schleifer, M. (1983). Towards a refinement of attribution concepts. In J. Jaspars, F. Fincham, & M. Hewstone (Eds.),Attribution theory and research. New York: Academic Press.
Turkewitz, H., & O'Leary, K. D. (1981). A comparative outcome study of behavioral marital therapy and communication therapy.Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 7 159–169.
Weiss, R. L., & Perry, B. A. (1979). Assessment and treatment of marital dysfunction. Eugene: Oregon Marital Studies Program. (Available from R. L. Weiss, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403)
Wills, T. A., Weiss, R. L., & Patterson, G. R. (1974). A behavioral analysis of the determinants of marital satisfaction.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42 802–811.
Wright, J., & Fichten, C. (1976). Denial of responsibility, videotape feedback and attribution theory: Relevance for behavioral marital therapy.Canadian Psychology Review, 17 219–230.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors thank Jolene Galegher and Thomas Bradbury for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fincham, F.D., Beach, S. & Nelson, G. Attribution processes in distressed and nondistressed couples: 3. causal and responsibility attributions for spouse behavior. Cogn Ther Res 11, 71–86 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01183133
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01183133