MARITAL HAPPINESS, DIVORCE STATUS AND PARTNER DIFFERENCES IN ATTRIBUTIONS ABOUT COMMUNICATION BEHAVIORS

According to the egocentric attribution in marriage, spouses take more responsibility for marital behaviors (giving compliments, ignoring th e partner) than they give to their partners. On the other hand, eviden ce has also been found for a partner-centric attribution for positive behaviors in which individuals underestimate their own contributions. These attributions are examined as a function of communication behavio rs discriminating between four marital groups based on three levels of marital happiness (low, medium, high) and a divorced group. Partner d ifferences were also examined. The analysis revealed effects for marit al group and partner on the direction of communication attributions. F or example, the divorced individuals ascribed more responsibility for dominance to their partners than moderate and low quality couples. The re were gender differences in which the husbands made a partner-centri c attribution in reporting that their wives were more likely to expres s feelings while the wives made an egocentric attribution for this beh avior. The results are discussed in terms of the direction of cognitiv e inferences.