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.
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The authors thank Jolene Galegher and Thomas Bradbury for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.
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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
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01183133