Role of femininity and masculinity in distressed couples' communication

The relationship between sex role identity and marital communication of maritally distressed couples was examined. Interactional behavior of 60 maritally distressed couples was coded with the Marital Interaction Coding System and examined in relation to the level of femininity and masculinity of the spouses. Base-rate analyses indicated that femininity was positively related to greater rates of negative behavior among husbands and wives. As predicted, sequential analyses supported that wives' femininity was associated with greater negative reciprocity of the wives. Men's femininity was associated with husbands' tendency to terminate fewer negative sequences of behavior in comparison with their wives. High masculinity of the wives was associated with shorter sequences of negative behavior. Implications of the findings and future directions for research are discussed.