Communication in married couples: Exploring the roles of betrayal and forgiveness

This dissertation explored the associations between having experienced a major betrayal, forgiveness, and communication behaviors in married couples. The first aim of the current research was to compare the communication behaviors of couples who have experienced a major betrayal and are in various stages of the forgiveness process as delineated by Gordon, Baucom, and Snyder (2005) to couples who reported never having experienced a betrayal in their current relationship. The second aim of the study was to explore whether injured partners and their spouses behave differently when discussing the betrayal event than when they are conversing about a separate problem area in their relationship. 34 couples were observed having discussions about a problem area in their relationship and/or a betrayal event, and 3 undergraduate research assistants coded these interactions for the following communication behaviors: positive and negative affect, conflict, communication skills, positive and negative escalation, and validating and invalidating behaviors. The couples also reported their levels of forgiveness, marital satisfaction, and basic demographics. Analyses of Variance and Covariance (controlling for marital satisfaction) were used to explore hypotheses. Marital satisfaction was related to how injured partners communicate with their spouses. The injured partner’s level of forgiveness also was found to be related to how both partners communicate with each other regardless of discussion topic. Low levels of forgiveness were associated with less adaptive communication between spouses. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed

Changes in Perceptions of Social Support, Constructive Communication and Marital Satisfaction in Couples Participating in a Marital Enrichment Program

Marital enrichment programs have been gaining considerable recognition in the past several decades. Thousands of individuals participate in these programs yearly. However, the particular effects of enrichment programs are still under investigation, and many remain empirically unanalyzed and their effectiveness undetermined. Also, many dyadic interventions focus on helping couples improve their communication skills and become more socially supportive of their partner. This study explored changes in levels of perceived social support, constructive communication, and marital satisfaction in couples participating in a marital enrichment program, Marriage Alive. Couples who completed all 3 phases of the study (i.e., pre-seminar, post-seminar, 2 month follow-up) were included in these analyses. Results indicated that levels of support, communication, and satisfaction increased by the end of the enrichment seminar for husbands and wives. However, only gains in communication were fully maintained at follow-up. The finding of sustained improvements in communication skills has far-reaching implications, which will be discussed here. This study also explored whether changes in social support from pre-seminar to follow-up mediate the relationship between changes in constructive communication and changes in marital satisfaction; however, this model was not supported. Implications and future directions for the specific seminar under investigation are also discussed

Accepted for the Council:

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contac