This study prospectively examined a social interactional model of husband marital aggression. Young couples were assessed at the time of their 1st marriage with respect to marital conflict styles, alcohol consumption, hostility, gender identity, perceived power inequity, and history of family violence. Couples were reassessed at their 1-year anniversary, and information concerning marital aggression was collected. Most of the constructs were prospectively related to husband aggression, but these relationships were largely mediated through marital conflict styles and husband alcohol consumption, which in turn were influenced by husband's hostility, gender identity, and perceived power inequity.
Recent research has shown a relation between adults' attachment styles and their interpersonal functioning. The present study examined attachment styles and marital adjustment among 322 young, newlywed couples participating in a longitudinal study of alcohol use and marital functioning. Couples completed a three-item measure of adult attachment styles and measures of marital intimacy, partners' marital functioning and partners' conflict resolution behaviors. The data were analyzed within a repeated measure design. Couple attachment type (both partners' attachment styles) was the between subject factor, and husband-wife was the within subject factor. Results showed that husbands and wives tended to pair on the basis of similarity of attachment security. However, it was the nature of the pairings, rather than their similarity, per se, which was associated with the marital adjustment variables. Couples in which both partners were securely attached evidenced better overall marital adjustment than couples in which one or both partners were insecurely attached. Additional findings are discussed.
Although many studies have demonstrated that males' same-sex interaction is less intimate than that of females, few have provided empirical evidence for the underlying psychological processes. The two studies reported herein were designed to evaluate five potential explanations for this sex difference. These explanations concerned differing criteria for intimacy, labeling differences, selectivity in the occasions or partners for intimacy, the question of capability versus preference, and gender-cued stereotypic judgments. In a replication of the essential datum, diarylike reports of naturalistic interaction indicated that males' same-sex interaction was substantially less intimate than that of females. Subsequently, subjects were asked to judge standard stimuli, to provide, and to have an intimate conversation in a laboratory setting. Analyses of these and related data revealed that the sex difference is not attributable to differing criteria, labeling, selectivity, or gender-cued judgments. Further analyses indicated that it is likely preference plays more of a role than capability because situational manipulations eliminated the sex difference. Finally, theoretical and methodological implications were discussed.
This study investigated the relations among frequency of drinking in different social contexts; alcohol consumption, expectancies, and problems; and psychosocial characteristics among college students. Social drinking contexts were defined by the size and gender composition of social groups. Participants were 98 men and 98 women who endorsed current alcohol use. The results showed that typical social drinking contexts were associated with men's average daily number of drinks and frequency of drunkenness but were not associated with women's alcohol consumption. Controlling for alcohol expectancies and personality factors did not obscure significant social context effects for men's alcohol consumption or problems, supporting the importance of considering social context variables in studies of drinking. Future research with regard to alcohol education, intervention, and prevention strategies is discussed.Alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems remain widespread among college students (O' Hare, 1990) and are a major public health concern (Office of Substance Abuse Prevention, 1991). During the 1980s, college campuses were inundated with alcohol education programs (Gadaleto & Anderson, 1986), with subsequent increases in alcohol-related knowledge and decreases in alcohol-related problems such as drunk driving (Gonzalez, 1991). However, despite reports of small reductions in alcohol consumption in recent years (Johnston, Bachman, & O'Malley, 1991), studies continue to indicate that nearly one quarter of college students can be classified as heavy drinkers (15% to 21%, reported by Engs & Hanson, 1985; 22%, reported by Gonzalez & Broughton, 1994). When heavy episodic drinking or binge drinking is considered, these rates
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