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Putting Emotional Reactivity In Its Place? Exploring Family-Of-Origin Influences On Emotional Reactivity, Conflict, And Satisfaction In Premarital Couples, Brandt C. Gardner, Dean M. Busby, Andrew S. Brimhall

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this research was to develop a structural equation model that tested the effects of emotional reactivity on the relational health of a representative sample of 736 premarital couples. We hypothesized that partners’ perceived family-of-origin experience would be predictive of partners’ reports of their own and their partners’ emotional reactivity. These reports were hypothesized to predict partners’ reports of their own and their partners’ ability to manage conflict, which were hypothesized to predict relationship satisfaction. Overall, the model fit the data quite well, with particularly interesting differences by gender. We discuss the model’s fit within the larger body …