The Social Context of Couple Conflict

Support and Criticism from Informal Third Parties

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2924601
AutoresRenate C A Klein (University of Maine), Robert M Milardo (University of Maine)
Año2000
Volumen17
Número4-5
Páginas618-637
Fecha de publicación2000-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Social and Personal Relationships (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0265-4075 • E-ISSN: 1460-3608
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0265407500174008
OpenAlexW1971613265
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas37
Referencias citadas28

This study investigates how informal third parties, such as friends and family members, may play a role in couple conflict as perceived supporters or critics of partners' conflicting positions. We examine who partners perceive to be supporters and critics and how beliefs about supporters and critics are related to partners' views of the conflict. In a sample of 98 dating couples, parents and close friends were equally likely to be perceived as critics, but close friends were more likely than parents to be perceived as supporters. In general, partners saw their primary supporters among their same-sex friends in their own, rather than the couple's joint, network. Thinking of one's own position as legitimate was correlated, for women, with the presence of supporters, and for men, with the absence of critics. Finally, the extent to which partners had separate, as opposed to joint, networks of significant others was systematically related to their preferred conflict management strategies

Context (archaeology · Criticism · Political science · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology