Conflict and support interactions in marriage: An analysis of couples’ interactive behavior and on‐line cognition

The present study examined the similarities and differences in couples’ interactive behavior and interaction‐based cognition that emerged in comparisons of conflict and support interactions in marriage. In a laboratory experiment, 53 couples were randomly assigned to the conditions of a 2 (type of interaction: conflict vs. support) × 2 (initiator of interaction: man vs. woman) factorial design. Partners provided questionnaire data and participated in a joint interaction and video review task. The data revealed substantial behavioral similarities (i.e., some classes of validation/facilitation behaviors and neutral problem‐solving behaviors) as well as behavioral differences (i.e., some classes of invalidation/oppositional behaviors) between conflict and support interactions, controlling for levels of marital satisfaction. Partners’ interaction‐based cognition (e.g., feeling understood, satisfied) was especially affected by classes of validation/facilitation behaviors and was consistently related to marital satisfaction. In broad terms, the impact of a particular behavior on partners’ ongoing cognition did not depend on the interaction domain (conflict vs. support) in which the behavior occurred.