Abstract

Conflict is a fundamental element of couple relationships, and the styles of conflict partners use can either enhance or undermine couples' relationship satisfaction and stability. Previous research has found clear links between parent and adult children's conflict strategies, but little is known about how adult children can change their conflict approach from what they observed in their family of origin, especially when they come from homes with dysfunctional forms of conflict. To better understand what factors help children change their style of conflict, the current study used data from 1,077 married couples from the CREATE study. Multinomial logit regression was used to examine the associations between the conflict style combinations of married couples and their parents, as well as the moderating roles of partners' attachment behaviors and forgiveness. The findings demonstrated that in general, couples had a greater likelihood of having similar conflict styles as their parents. However, when husbands' parents used hostile-avoidant conflict strategies, husbands were more likely to be in a validating relationship compared to a hostile relationship when wives used more attachment behaviors. Although forgiveness was associated with different styles of conflict, forgiveness did not moderate any associations between parent and child couple conflict styles. This highlights that when husbands come from homes with dysfunctional styles of conflict, having a partner who uses attunement strategies such as attachment behaviors can help to facilitate more positive dyadic conflict.

Degree

MS

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Family Life

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2024-08-09

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd13383

Keywords

Conflict styles, intergenerational transmission, attachment behaviors, forgiveness

Language

english

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