What the motivated mind sees: Comparing friends' perspectives to married partners' views of each other

This article argues that satisfaction in marriage is associated with motiva ted and benevolent biases in perception. Married couples individually compl eted measures of relationship satisfaction and described themselves and the ir partners on a series of virtues and faults. They also nominated friends who described each spouse on the identical qualities. The results revealed that intimates in satisfying marriages perceive more virtue in their partne rs than their friends or their partners themselves perceive. They also poss ess partners who see them in this benevolently distorted light In contrast intimates in less satisfying marriages perceive less virtue in their partne rs than their friends or their partners themselves perceive. The findings a re discussed in terms of the role motivated cognition plays in sustaining s atisfying relationships. (C) 2000 Academic Press.