Dealing with relational conflict: A picture in milliseconds

Although behavioral research has provided important insights into the relat ional features of conflict, it leaves open the whole field of conflict-rela ted processes that are unavailable for self-report or behavioral observatio n. The information-processing paradigm offers a useful approach to the stud y of these important and unexplored aspects of relational conflict. The pre sent article describes a first attempt to 'translate' and test some of the most intriguing aspects of relational conflict in more information-processi ng terms. We start from three observations derived from observational and s elf-report research: (1) Avoidance is a frequent response to relational con flict; (2) the outcome of avoidance of relational conflict varies, dependin g on the extent to which the conflict threatens the relationship; and (3) h usbands avoid more frequently than wives. The specific aim of the present a rticle is to understand two processes that give rise to male avoidance in r esponse to relationship-threatening conflicts: Defensive protection, a moti vational process, and the management of cognitive dissonance, a cognitive p rocess. In line with the information-processing paradigm, a reaction time a nd recognition study is reported in which 126 partners of 63 couples were e xposed to conflict information in an experimental dual-task paradigm. The e xperiment provided a set of findings that is consistent with previous resea rch and supports the case of motivated distraction in males, but also break s new ground because it offers insight into processes unavailable for self- report or behavioral observation.