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Linking Hearts And Minds In Couple Interactions: Intentions, Attributions And Overriding Sentiments, Robert J. Waldinger, Marc S. Schulz

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

This study examined the role of emotion and relationship satisfaction in shaping attributions about a partner’s intentions in couple interactions. Using video recall, participants (n=156 couples) reported on their own and their partners’ intentions and emotions during affective moments of a discussion about an upsetting event. Links were found between relationship satisfaction and factor-analytically derived intention and attribution scales. Attributions about a partner’s intentions were weakly to moderately correlated with the partner’s self-reported intentions. Relationship satisfaction accounted for part of the discrepancy between self-reported intentions and partner attributions. Emotions mediated the links between relationship satisfaction and attributions, suggesting …