Witnessing interparental psychological aggression in childhood: implications for daily conflict in adult intimate relationships

We examined the consequences of witnessing interparental psychological aggression in childhood for daily conflict processes in adult intimate relationships. Both partners in 73 heterosexual couples provided daily diary reports of relationship conflict over a 28-day period. Partners' reports of witnessing mother-to-father and father-to-mother psychological aggression were used to predict exposure to daily relationship conflicts and reactivity to those conflicts (as reflected in end-of-day anger). Results showed no evidence of exposure effects: Witnessing interparental psychological aggression was unrelated to the number of conflict days reported by either partner. Reactivity effects emerged for males only, with father's aggression predicting increased reactivity and mother's aggression predicting the opposite. However, we found evidence of direct or unmediated effects of interparental conflict on daily anger for both males and females. Mirroring the reactivity pattern, the same-sex parent's psychological aggression predicted greater daily anger, whereas the opposite-sex parent's aggression predicted less daily anger. These effects emerged independently of Big Five measures of personality; moreover, Big Five measures did not predict outcomes independently of interparental aggression.     

A multidimensional examination of marital conflict and subjective health over 16 years

Guided by stress process perspectives, this study conceptualizes marital conflict as a multidimensional stressor to assess how three aspects of conflict—frequency of disagreements, breadth of disagreements, and cumulative disagreements—impact subjective health. Longitudinal data of married couples spanning 16 years (n = 373 couples) were analyzed using multilevel modeling. For husbands, more frequent disagreements than usual within a given year were associated with poorer subjective health. For wives, the greater cumulative effects of disagreements over 16 years were harmful for subjective health. We discuss how gendered self‐representations and relationship power issues help explain the findings. This research demonstrated the importance of examining multiple aspects of marital conflict to reveal that their subjective health consequences function differently for wives and husbands.     

Personality correlates of self-appraised problem solving abilities

We examined the relations between the components of self-appraised problem solving abilities and personality constructs measured by a popular instrument. Results indicated that the Approach-Avoidance and Problem-Solving Confidence factors of the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI; Heppner, 1988) were significantly associated with the judging, perceiving, and feeling scales of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Myers & McCaulley, 1985) among 112 undergraduates. Our results elucidate the relations between problem-solving appraisal, emotional predispositions, Willfulness, and preferences for structure. Implications for theoretical models of social problem solving and counselling interventions are discussed.