Abstract
A cursory review of popular literature on romantic relationships and marriage reveals the term communication as a pivotal concept. Popular authors with backgrounds in psychology, sociology, and counseling applaud communication skills as the answer to most, if not all, relational problems. Although theoretical commentaries (e.g., Parks, 1982) and empirical work (Katriel & Philipsen, 1981) have cautioned that these unqualified prescriptions are based on cultural values rather than objective reality, the underlying theme—that communicative behavior is associated with relational satisfaction—seems to have a great deal of validity. James and Wilson (1986) note that “implicit in much of the literature is the central importance of effective communication between partners” (p. 57). Fitzpatrick (1983) similarly states that “interaction is . . . a major predictor of marital success or failure” (p. 49). Longitudinal data collected by Huston (unpublished manuscript) demonstrates that of several indices of satisfaction, communication is the best predictor of overall relational happiness.
Whenever we got to talking, we always—well, not really always, but often enough that we couldn’t miss it—we would very quickly get to the point where there was nothing to talk about any more. We just sat and looked at each other. . . . (Cuber & Harroff, 1965, pp. 122–123).
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Vangelisti, A.L. (1992). Communication Problems in Committed Relationships: An Attributional Analysis. In: Harvey, J.H., Orbuch, T.L., Weber, A.L. (eds) Attributions, Accounts, and Close Relationships. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4386-1_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4386-1_8
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