RELATIONSHIP CONTROL AND INTERPERSONAL PERCEPTION IN MARRIAGE

The correlation between married couples' interpersonal perception and relationship control in communication was investigated. A normated, st andardized and shortened version of Laing et al.'s Interpersonal Perce ption method (IPM) was used to measure interpersonal perception. The t est contain three levels of perception, namely (1) direct perception o f the relationship, (2) misunderstandings, and (3) disagreements about the relationship. The couples' relationship control was observed in t hree different situations. Previous studies have found the amount of o ne-upmanship in married couples to be associated with problems of inte rpersonal perception. Although different methods were applied in the p resent study, this finding was replicated to some extent. Additionally , the results indicate that the more the couples communicated to each other that they both had the right to control the relationship, the le ss problems they had in interpersonal perception. The results also str ongly suggest that couples communicating in egocentric and self-disqua lifying ways perceive their marriage as less satisfying, and they also perceive each other's feelings and behaviours less accurately than th ose who have little or no such deviant communication.