Linguistic Indicators of Wives' Attachment Security and Communal Orientation During Military Deployment

Abstract

Military deployment affects thousands of families each year, yet little is known about its impact on non-deployed spouses (NDSs) and romantic relationships. This report examines two factors–attachment security and a communal orientation with respect to the deployment– that may be crucial to successful dyadic adjustment by the NDS. Thirty-seven female NDSs reported on their relationship satisfaction before and during their partner’s deployment, and 20 also did so two weeks following their partner’s return. Participants provided a stream-of-conscious speech sample regarding their relationship during the deployment; linguistic coding of sample transcripts provided measures of each participant’s (a) narrative coherence, hypothesized to reflect attachment security with respect to their deployed spouse; and, (b) frequency of first person plural pronoun use (we-talk), hypothesized to reflect a communal orientation to coping. More frequent first person plural pronouns— we-talk— was uniquely associated with higher relationship satisfaction during the deployment, and greater narrative coherence was uniquely associated with higher relationship satisfaction post-deployment. Discussion centers on the value of relationship security and communal orientations in predicting how couples cope with deployment and other types of relationship stressors.

Examining the Effects of Couples’ Real-Time Stress and Coping Processes on Interaction Quality: Language Use as a Mediator

“…That is, when one partner communicated their stress in a general or neutral manner, the other partner responded with less we-talk, which then positively predicted interaction quality. We-talk has been typically thought by researchers to communicate cohesion between couples and in fact, found to be associated with relationship satisfaction (Borelli et al, 2013). It is possible that when the supporting partner used fewer “we” words, the partner communicating stress interpreted it as the partner was not coping with him/her and therefore perceived lower quality of interaction.…”

“…For instance, partners who view the relationship as cohesive may be more likely to highlight the interdependence by using more plural, first-person pronouns like “we” and “us.” They may also conceptualize each other’s external stress as “our” stress, an issue that they must work together in order to combat. Consistent with positive dyadic coping, it has been found that greater use of plural, personal pronouns (i.e., we-talk ) is positively associated with relationship satisfaction (Borelli et al, 2013) and communication quality (Biesen et al, 2015).…”

“…Moreover, partners’ language, in particular the pronouns or words (e.g., emotion- or cognition-related words) they use, may reflect engagement in dyadic coping. Given that unique patterns of language use have been associated with greater relationship functioning (e.g., Borelli et al, 2013; Rentscher et al, 2013), it is likely that when partners engage in dyadic coping, they may also use more supportive language (e.g., positive emotion words).…”

Families Support to Transition: A Systematic Review of the Evidence

“…93 See Parcell & Maguire (2014); Theiss & Knobloch (2013). 94 Baptist & Goff (2012); Borelli et al (2013); Bunch et al (2007); Frey et al (2011); Karakurt et al (2013). 95 This limitation was also noted in Cafferky & Shi (2015) and Orthner & Rose (2009).…”

Examining Parents’ Romantic Attachment Styles and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms as Predictors of Caregiving Experiences

“…To further minimize the effect of defensive responding in this study, we code for defensiveness in parents’ narratives. Coder‐rated measures of defensiveness may assist in shedding light on psychological states of which individuals are not consciously aware (Borelli et al., ).…”