TY - JOUR
T1 - Relational uncertainty and message processing in marriage
AU - Knobloch, Leanne K.
AU - Miller, Laura E.
AU - Bond, Bradley J.
AU - Mannone, Sarah E.
N1 - Funding Information:
Leanne K. Knobloch (PhD, University of Wisconsin·Madison, 2001) is an assistant professor in the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Illinois, where Laura E. Miller (MA, University of Illinois, 2005) and Bradley J. Bond (MA, University of Illinois, 2006) are doctoral candidates. Sarah E. Mannone earned her MA degree from the Department of Speech Communication at University of Illinois in 2006. Correspondence to: Leanne K. Knobloch, Department of Speech Communication, University of Illinois, 244 Lincoln Hall, 702 S. Wright St, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. Tel: 217-333-8913; Fax: 217-244-1598; E-mail: [email protected]. This study was funded by an Arnold O. Beckman Award granted to the first author by the University of Illinois Research Board. The authors are grateful to Katherine Becker, Gail Bernstein, Allison Campbell, Carly Compobasso, Kate Curtis, Sara DiDomenico, Nicol Figueroa, Lisa Gabris, Jessica Garrity, Angela Kinsella, Catherine Knight, Amy Leon, Donna Victoria Marshall, Marina Romero, Kimberly Verest, Erica Weber, and Dan Wilbrandt for their assistance with coding and rating. They also thank Dr. Denise Haunani Solomon for her feedback on an earlier version of the manuscript.
PY - 2007/6
Y1 - 2007/6
N2 - We theorized that relational uncertainty fosters a pessimism bias that leads spouses to process messages negatively. We conducted a study in which 125 couples engaged in videotaped conversations. Although participants reported modest levels of relational uncertainty, our results were consistent with our predictions. Relational uncertainty predicted individuals' judgments of the affiliation, dominance, and involvement of their partner's messages (H1, H2), but it was not associated with the perceptions of outside observers (RQ1). Relational uncertainty was positively associated with spouses' appraisals of the self threat and relationship threat of conversation (H3, H4) and their feelings of negative emotion (H5). Hence, spouses experiencing mild relational uncertainty may be reactive to conversations that seem ordinary to outside observers.
AB - We theorized that relational uncertainty fosters a pessimism bias that leads spouses to process messages negatively. We conducted a study in which 125 couples engaged in videotaped conversations. Although participants reported modest levels of relational uncertainty, our results were consistent with our predictions. Relational uncertainty predicted individuals' judgments of the affiliation, dominance, and involvement of their partner's messages (H1, H2), but it was not associated with the perceptions of outside observers (RQ1). Relational uncertainty was positively associated with spouses' appraisals of the self threat and relationship threat of conversation (H3, H4) and their feelings of negative emotion (H5). Hence, spouses experiencing mild relational uncertainty may be reactive to conversations that seem ordinary to outside observers.
KW - Conversation
KW - Marriage
KW - Message processing
KW - Relational uncertainty
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34547393971&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=34547393971&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/03637750701390069
DO - 10.1080/03637750701390069
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:34547393971
SN - 0363-7751
VL - 74
SP - 154
EP - 180
JO - Communication Monographs
JF - Communication Monographs
IS - 2
ER -