The precarious couple effect

Verbally inhibited men + critical, disinhibited women = bad chemistry

Bibliographic Data

ID6206932
AuthorsWilliam B Swann (0000-0002-8698-2994, The University of Texas at Austin), Peter J Rentfrow (0000-0002-9068-2118, The University of Texas at Austin), Samuel D Gosling (0000-0001-8970-591X, The University of Texas at Austin)
Year2003
Volume85
Issue6
Pages1095-1106
Publication date2003-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/0022-3514.85.6.1095
PMID14674816
OpenAlexW2154132965
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited43

When critical, verbally disinhibited women are paired with verbally inhibited men, relationship quality suffers, rendering the relationship precarious. This effect theoretically emerges when (a). verbally disinhibited women pair with relatively inhibited men (man-more-inhibited couples) and (b). the disinhibition of women in man-more-inhibited couples amplifies women's criticalness and alienates men. Three studies (Ns=437, 300, and 564) provided evidence that relationship quality suffered in man-more-inhibited couples; a 4th study (N=168) showed that the criticalness of women in man-more-inhibited couples did indeed undermine relationship quality. Implications for understanding the impact of gender expectations on relationships and for integrating behavioral and personological approaches to close relationships are discussed

Developmental psychology · Disinhibition · Epistemology · Psychotherapist · Quality (philosophy) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Psychology · Social Psychology

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