THE CORRELATES OF SPOUSES INCONGRUENT REPORTS OF MARITAL AGGRESSION

Husbands' and wives' reports (n = 97 couples) of engaging in or experi encing marital aggression were compared to determine congruence. Congr uence was defined as spousal agreement on whether either spouse had be en nonviolent, mildly violent, or severely maritally violent within th e past year. Whereas approximately equal numbers of clinic couples wer e incongruent for husband and for wife violence (32% vs. 31%), only in congruence for husband violence (H --> W) was found to correlate with reports of affective and relationship functioning. Incongruent H --> W wives were more likely to be depressed and angry. H --> W incongruent wives were also more negative about the inter-spousal communication a nd rated the relationship as more unsatisfactory for them than did con gruent wives. Incongruent H --> W husbands also perceived the relation ship more negatively, but their levels of depression and anger did not differ from congruent H --> W husbands. These findings were not repli cated for spouses who were incongruent for wife violence. Our results support the conclusion that spousal disagreement about H --> W violenc e has a more negative impact than does disagreement about wives' level of aggression.