Spouses' Cognitive Styles and Marital Interaction Patterns*

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between spouses' cognitive styles and interaction patterns that were characteristic of their marriage. Three measures of cognitive style and one measure of relational interaction patterns were used. Participants were 60 married couples. Results indicated that spouses' reports of parallel, complementary and symmetrical interaction could each be predicted from spouses' intolerance of ambiguity. Husbands reported more parallel interaction when more similar to their wives in cognitive complexity, and more symmetrical interaction when more dissimilar. Findings suggested a dimension of flexibility‐rigidity exists for cognitive style and interaction style. Additionally, interaction patterns could be predicted from marriage length and the number of individuals at home. Implications of these findings for counseling are discussed.

Association of Interpersonal Cognitive Complexity with Communication Skill in Marriage: Moderating Effects of Marital Distress

“…Only limited research (for example, Tyndall & Lichtenberg, 1985) has attempted to identify cognitive and personality factors associated with significant forms of marital interaction. Further, little or no published research has examined the relationship between cognitive complexity and communication among married couples.…”

Marital Satisfaction: The Role of Postformal Thought and Partner Blame

“…Karney and Gauer (2010) defined complex cognition by higher levels of differentiation (perceiving more categories or kinds of information from analyzing a given event or person) and integration (connecting or synthesizing different qualities and characteristics). Similarly, Tyndall and Lichtenberg (1985) sug gested that couples who exhibited higher cognitive flexibility by a high tolerance for ambiguity showed more adaptable interpersonal strategies in their relationship when confronted with a change of circumstances.…”

Cognitive complexity and marital interaction in newlyweds

“…In a review of 40 studies conducted across a variety of domains, Burleson (1987) concluded that “extant research has firmly established the existence of a significant, stable, and substantial relationship between cognitive complexity and person‐centered communication” (p. 306). Research that has specifically addressed communication in established marriages (Denton, Burleson, & Sprenkle, 1995; Martin, 1992; Tyndall & Lichtenberg, 1985) also suggests that spouses whose cognitions about relationships are more complex are more effective at discussing and resolving problems, although none of these studies controlled for concurrent marital satisfaction. Most recently, Campbell, Butzer, and Wong (2008) used a card sorting task to assess the structure of spouses' perceptions of each other and found that, even after controlling for their global evaluations, spouses in established marriages whose perceptions of each other's positive and negative traits were more integrated behaved more positively during discussions of marital problems.…”