The longitudinal impact of demand and withdrawal during marital conflict.

Abstract

Forty-eight couples completed a measure of relationship satisfaction and participated in 2 video-taped problem-solving interactions, 1 focused on an issue identified by the woman and 1 focused on an issue identified by the man. Thirty-six men and 36 women completed the satisfaction measure again 2.5 years later. Demandingness, and to a lesser extent withdrawal, during the interactions showed many significant associations with both Time 1 and Time 2 satisfaction. The relationship of demandingness and withdrawal to change in satisfaction was also examined using both change scores and partial correlations. Withdrawal by men and woman demand-man withdraw during discussions of issues identified by the women reliably predicted change (decline) in wives' relationship satisfaction.

Tickling the monster: Jealousy induction in relationships

“…If the partner responds by withdrawing from the relationship, the relationship appears to suffer, and if the partner responds in compensatory ways by attempting to improve self or the relationship, then the relationship appears to benefit. Withdrawal and avoidant tactics have often revealed inconsistent relationships with relational outcomes (e.g., Heavey, Christensen, & Malamuth, 1995;Raush, Barry, Hertel, & Swain, 1974;Spitzberg et al, 1994). The 'silent treatment' (Williams, Shore, & Grahe, 1998), mulling and withholding complaints (Roloff & Cloven, 1990) appear negatively related to relational attraction and satisfaction.…”

Intimacy and relationship processes in couples' psychosocial adaptation to cancer

“…Traditionally, the woman in the couple is the pursuer, and the man is the withdrawer. 125 The pressure-withdraw interaction dynamic is associated with marital dissatisfaction. 124 Mutual avoidance of discussing problems is a second dynamic that is predictive of marital dissatisfaction.…”

Sex differences in the use of demand and withdraw behavior in marriage: Examining the social structure hypothesis.

“…Demand and withdraw behaviors have been suggested to be common in intimate relationships , even among relatively satisfied couples (Vogel & Karney, 2002;Vogel, Wester, & Heesacker, 1999). However, demand and withdraw behaviors have been of particular concern because of their (a) frequent presence in distressed couples (Christensen & Shenk, 1991), (b) link with declines in relationship satisfaction over time (Heavey, Christensen, & Malamuth, 1995), and (c) link to spousal abuse (Berns, Jacobson, & Gottman, 1999). In addition, studies consistently show that women express more demands and men exhibit more withdrawal during problem-solving discussions (e.g., Christensen & Heavey, 1990;Gottman & Krokoff, 1989;Heavey, Layne, & Christensen, 1993;Vogel & Karney, 2002).…”