Interaction structure of husbands' and wives' disclosure of marital conflict to their respective best friend

Husbands' and wives' conversations with their respective best friend (N = 8 8) were coded to assess spouses' and friends' mutual influence in regulatin g support and interference with regard to spouses' marriage and to assess t he impact of spouses' sex and marital satisfaction on the conversation proc esses. Dissatisfied husbands and wives expressed fewer positive and more ne gative views of marriage than satisfied husbands and wives and the friends in the 2 groups. There were no group and no sex differences in interference sequences. There were group and sex differences in support sequences. Frie nds of satisfied wives and those of dissatisfied husbands were more likely than satisfied wives and dissatisfied husbands to get support for their pos itive views of marriage. The findings are discussed with reference to the s pecific effects of outsiders' support and interference on satisfied and dis satisfied spouses.