Love and the account episode: Their role in prompting or preventing conflict escalation in close relationships.

摘要

This study sought to examine the impact of love in relation to two sets of observations---Severity and Accuracy of three communication exchanges in the account episode (the reproach, the account, and the evaluation of the account). A 152 close couples were surveyed and asked to recall and report on a recent account episode in which there was a misunderstanding or potential conflict situation. Sternberg's 45-item Triangular Love Scale was used to measure love, intimacy, passion, and commitment. Results indicated that Actors who were high in love, intimacy, passion, and commitment recalled less severe reproaches and accounts, and were more forgiving toward their partners than Actors who were low in love, intimacy, passion, and commitment. Significant differences in accuracy were also found. Actors high in love, intimacy, passion, and commitment rated their partner's description of the account episode as more accurate than Actors who perceived themselves as low in love, intimacy, passion, and commitment. Along with the results of the study suggestions for future research were offered.