Revisiting “ill will versus poor skill”

Relationship dissatisfaction, intimate partner violence, and observed “communication skills deficits”

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21320004
AutoresRichard E Heyman (0000-0002-5365-0037, Family Translational Research Group New York University New York New York USA, autor de correspondencia), Amy M Smith Slep (0000-0002-6321-1740, Family Translational Research Group New York University New York New York USA), Jill Giresi (0000-0003-4366-0589, Family Translational Research Group New York University New York New York USA), Katherine J W Baucom (0000-0002-0011-2526, Department of Psychology University of Utah Salt Lake City Utah USA)
Año2023
Volumen62
Número3
Páginas1233-1252
Fecha de publicación2023-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaFamily Process (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0014-7370 • E-ISSN: 1545-5300
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/famp.12834
PMID36347260
OpenAlexW4308542828
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas57

For decades, researchers, interventionists, and the lay public have subscribed to the notion that couples low in relationship satisfaction and/or experiencing psychological, physical, or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) have communication skills deficits. In contrast, experimental studies of communication have concluded that differences were more likely due to partners' “ill will than poor skill.” We revisited this debate by recruiting a fairly generalizable sample of couples ( N = 291) via random‐digit dialing and asking them to discuss two top conflict areas (“at your best” and “as you typically do”), thus measuring will—conscious inhibition of hostility and negative reciprocity and production of positivity (i.e., the “conflict triad”). The conflict triad was observed with the Rapid Marital Interaction Coding System, Second Generation. We found partial support for the hypotheses grounded in Finkel's I 3 meta‐model. Frequency of hostility was associated with a complicated satisfaction × IPV‐extent × conversation type × gender interaction, indicating that couples' communication skills are multi‐determined. Unhappier couples showed almost no change in positivity when at their best, whereas happier couples nearly doubled their positivity despite their considerably higher typical positivity mean. Negative reciprocity was associated with satisfaction and IPV‐extent but not conversation type, implying that immediate instigation combined with risk factors overwhelms conscious inhibition. Intervention implications are discussed

Assertiveness · Conversation · Developmental psychology · Domestic violence · Hostility · Injury prevention · Medical emergency · Partner effects · Poison control · Reciprocity (cultural anthropology) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Clinical Psychology · Communication · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology