WHATS LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT - PERCEPTIONS OF MARITAL POSITIVITY IN H-TO-W AGGRESSIVE, DISTRESSED, AND HAPPY MARRIAGES

Husbands' and wives' perceptions of positive relationship behaviors an d interactions (e.g., caring gestures, reasons for staying married, fr equency of positive communication) were assessed in a sample of marita lly happy (H), maritally distressed but non-aggressive (D/NA), and mar itally distressed and husband-to-wife physically aggressive (D/H-to-W) couples. As expected, the relationship positivity reports of, the two groups Of maritally distressed couples differed from the happily marr ied couples. In addition, D/H-to-W spouses gave different reasons for staying married than did D/NA spouses (i.e., love versus family roles and commitments). Spouses in D/H-to-W aggressive marriages were also l ess likely to report using intimate language with their partner than w ere spouses in either of the other two groups. Few gender differences were found. Results underscore the importance of considering the role of love and intimacy in husband-to-wife aggressive and distressed marr iages.