Let's talk about us: Attachment, relationship‐focused disclosure, and relationship quality

Abstract

This research tested whether attachment avoidance and anxiety were associated with couples' (N = 59) disclosure during recorded discussions of recent events. The links between attachment and disclosure with relationship quality across 1 year were also assessed. Attachment was not associated with amount or intimacy of disclosure, but greater attachment anxiety was associated with more relationship-focused disclosure, whereas attachment avoidance was associated with less relationship-focused disclosure. Relationship-focused disclosure was also positively associated with relationship quality across time, whereas attachment avoidance predicted lower relationship quality. These findings indicate that spontaneous relationship-focused disclosure during routine conversations helps maintain relationships, but because people high in avoidance are less focused on sustaining closeness, their relationships tend to deteriorate over time.

Relationship Maintenance: A Review of Research on Romantic Relationships

“…Relationship‐focused disclosure also predicted relationship quality among daters across time (Tan, Overall, & Taylor, ). A link between attachment and relationship talk was documented, with attachment avoidance being associated with less and attachment anxiety being associated with more relationship‐focused disclosure (Tan et al, ). Relationship talk avoidance is associated not only with an individual's own uncertainty about the future of the relationship but also with his or her partner's uncertainty, and those who avoid or enact less relationship talk experience more relational uncertainty over time (e.g., Knobloch & Theiss, ).…”

Women experience more serious relationship problems when male partners endorse hostile sexism

“…Intimate partners deeply affect one another on a daily basis, and thus hostile sexism may have the most prevalent, routine, and damaging impact on women within intimate relationships. Moreover, men who more strongly endorse hostile sexism are more verbally aggressive toward dating partners (Forbes, Adams-Curtis, & White, 2004;Martinez-Pecino & Dur an, 2016), and behave more aggressively during couples' conflict discussions and daily life (Cross et al, 2017;Hammond & Overall, 2013a;Overall, Sibley, & Tan, 2011). These fears and suspicions likely underlie why men's hostile sexism predicts more accepting attitudes toward domestic violence and greater agreement that women are responsible for such abuse (Glick, Sakalli-Ugurlu, Ferreira, & Souza, 2002;Koepke, Eyssel, & Bohner, 2014;Sakalli, 2001;Yamawaki, Ostenson, & Brown, 2009).…”

“…These fears and suspicions likely underlie why men's hostile sexism predicts more accepting attitudes toward domestic violence and greater agreement that women are responsible for such abuse (Glick, Sakalli-Ugurlu, Ferreira, & Souza, 2002;Koepke, Eyssel, & Bohner, 2014;Sakalli, 2001;Yamawaki, Ostenson, & Brown, 2009). Moreover, men who more strongly endorse hostile sexism are more verbally aggressive toward dating partners (Forbes, Adams-Curtis, & White, 2004;Martinez-Pecino & Dur an, 2016), and behave more aggressively during couples' conflict discussions and daily life (Cross et al, 2017;Hammond & Overall, 2013a;Overall, Sibley, & Tan, 2011).…”

Revising Working Models Across Time: Relationship Situations That Enhance Attachment Security

“…When their partners attempt to provide rewarding experiences, such attempts are often misconstrued as overstepping their influence (Tan, Overall, & Taylor, 2012;Collins & Feeney, 2004).…”