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Trust and Communicated Attributions in Close Relationships

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John Karl Rempel at University of Waterloo
John Karl Rempel
Michael Ross at University of Waterloo
Michael Ross
John G. Holmes
John G. Holmes
John G. Holmes
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Abstract

The attributional statements intimate partners communicate to one another were examined as a function of trust. In discussions by 35 married couples, 850 attributions and corresponding events were coded on dimensions of valence, globality, and locus. Results of regression and contingency analyses indicate that attributional statements expressed in high-trust relationships emphasized positive aspects of the relationship. Medium-trust couples actively engaged issues but focused more on negative events and explanations. Low-trust couples expressed more specific, less affectively extreme attributional statements that minimized the potential for increased conflict. Results could not be accounted for by relationship satisfaction. These findings also highlight the importance of focusing on features of the events for which attributions are expressed.
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INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS AND GROUP PROCESSES
Trust and Communicated Attributions in Close Relationships
John K. Rempel
St. Jerome's UniversityMichael Ross and John G. Holmes
University of Waterloo
The attributional statements intimate partners communicate to one another were examined as a function
of trust. In discussions by 35 married couples, 850 attributions and corresponding events were coded on
dimensions of valence, globality, and locus. Results of regression and contingency analyses indicate that
attributional statements expressed in high-trust relationships emphasized positive aspects of the relation-
ship.
Medium-trust couples actively engaged issues but focused more on negative events and explana-
tions.
Low-trust couples expressed more specific, less affectively extreme attributional statements that
minimized the potential for increased conflict. Results could not be accounted for by relationship
satisfaction. These findings also highlight the importance of focusing on features of the events for which
attributions are expressed.
To understand their social world, people process information
and create causal links whereby they can predict the implications
that social interactions have for their personal and relational well-
being and the fulfillment of valued goals. Trust, the confidence an
individual has that another will act in ways that promote the
fulfillment of desired goals, may be a particularly important factor
influencing how intimate partners attribute meaning to the events
they experience in their relationship. In this study, we examined
the idea that trust provides a guiding framework for making causal
connections and acts as a "filter" through which events in a
relationship are perceived and interpreted (Holmes & Rempel,
1989;
Rempel, Holmes, & Zanna, 1985). This study is located at
the intersection of two notable research traditions—the tradition
emphasizing research on the cognitive processes underlying how
intimate partners interpret and explain their interpersonal experi-
ences (e.g., Bradbury & Fincham, 1990; Karney & Bradbury,
2000) and research involving a detailed analysis of problem-
solving behaviors exhibited in unhappy marriages (Gottman, 1994;
John K. Rempel, Department of Psychology, St. Jerome's University,
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada; Michael Ross and John G. Holmes, Depart-
ment of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
This research was supported by grants and fellowships from the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and is based in part
on a doctoral dissertation by John K. Rempel. We thank Shelly Adams for
her assistance with coding and numerous reviewers for their helpful com-
ments on drafts of this article. We also thank statistical consultants at the
University of Waterloo and the University of Texas at Austin who helped
with the data analysis.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to John
K. Rempel, Department of Psychology, St. Jerome's University, Wa-
terloo, Ontario, N2L 3G3 Canada. Electronic mail may be sent to
jrempel@watarts.uwaterloo.ca.
Weiss & Heyman, 1990). In this article, we provide evidence
indicating that the analysis of couples' openly declared attribu-
tions,
made in the context of problem-solving discussions, offers a
valuable window into the expression of internal attributional
processes.
Communicated Attributions
There have been relatively few attempts to study attributions
that are actually communicated during the process of problem
solving. Yet, such public attributions may be critical for under-
<
standing a couple's ability to deal effectively with conflict. By
putting things "out on the table," communicated attributions allow
the existence of a misunderstanding to surface—a critical process
for dealing with sources of dissatisfaction (e.g., Gottman, 1994).
As Antaki (1988) has cogently argued, once explanations be-
come public, the fundamental rules and goals of the communica-
tion process come into play. Communicated attributions are likely
to be framed as a response to the perceived explicit or implicit
needs of the audience for new information and clarification about
why an event occurred (Draper, 1988; Hilton, 1990). Once private
attributions are expressed, partners can discuss their respective
interpretations. Bradbury and Fincham (1988, 1990) have sug-
gested that public attributions often take the form of an overt
charge or accusation that calls for rebuttal. As a result, rather than
relying solely on their original private interpretations, individuals
have the opportunity to achieve greater understanding or ulti-
mately revise their explanations as a result of the ensuing dialogue.
The negotiation of meaning is a recurring theme in the few
studies that have examined communicated attributions. In a pio-
neering study, Orvis, Kelley, and Butler (1976) obtained examples
of attributional disagreements from a sample of university couples.
Their analysis of these open-ended data showed that people were
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2001, Vol. 81. No. 1, 57-54
Copyright 2001 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. OO22-35I4/O1/$5.OO DOI: I0.1037//0022-3514.8I.1.57
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