The relationship between negative self-disclosure and marital satisfaction: A quantitative and qualitative exploration.
Item
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Title
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The relationship between negative self-disclosure and marital satisfaction: A quantitative and qualitative exploration.
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Identifier
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AAI9830702
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identifier
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9830702
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Creator
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Esteves-Wessman, Ines C.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Paul L. Wachtel
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Date
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1998
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical | Sociology, Individual and Family Studies | Psychology, Social
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Abstract
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Self-disclosure, the sharing of private thoughts and feelings, is viewed as a central component of intimacy, providing a vital avenue both for relationship development and for the maintenance of satisfaction within established relationships. Studies interested in valence (the positive or negative nature of what is shared) generally have rested with comparisons between positive and negative disclosures, finding, unsurprisingly, that the former are more conducive to relationship formation and to satisfaction in long-term relationships. Given the inevitability of expressing various types of negative thoughts and feelings in the course of a marriage, however, the importance of a more specific examination of negative disclosure and its relationship to marital satisfaction becomes apparent.;The first phase of the research sought to refine the concept of negative self-disclosure by distinguishing between three types: (1) general (GND), (2) self-critical (NSR), and (3) spouse-critical (CRS). Comparisons were made between more and less satisfied couples in terms of the Female partner's degree of likeliness to share negative thoughts and feelings in each of these three categories. The second phase explored qualitative differences between more and less satisfied couples in terms of the female partner's actual mode of disclosure as well as her approach to decision-making about negative self-disclosure.;The quantitative data yielded mixed results. When either the wife's rating or the combined husband/wife's rating of the marriage was taken as the index of satisfaction, no differences were found in likeliness to disclose in any of the three categories of negative disclosure. When the husband's rating was used, a significant difference in spouse-criticisms (CRS) was found, both in terms of frequency (p {dollar}<{dollar}.01) and proportion (p {dollar}<{dollar}.05), with higher CRS among women whose husbands were in the more satisfied group. There was also a lower proportion of general negative disclosures (GND) (p {dollar}<{dollar}.05) among these women. Qualitatively, women in more and less satisfied relationships differed in that women in the first category demonstrated more consideration for their partner's needs and for the overall good of the relationship when making decisions about what to share and how to share it.;The relationship between negative self-disclosure and marital satisfaction, then, is not purely negative, as the literature suggests; true understanding of this relationship requires a close exploration of an individual's approach toward sharing negative thoughts and feelings within his or her marriage in order to fully comprehend the attitudes conveyed to the recipient through those disclosures.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
