Relationship of Conflict to the Negotiation of Emotional Closeness and Distance in Marriage

Abstract

Conflict has been identified as a key factor in research on marital satisfaction as researchers and clinicians look for ways to strengthen and enrich marriages. As research on conflict resolution has evolved through the years, little has been done to integrate the areas of focus of the research. That is, research that involves the context of conflict, the perspectives of husbands and wives, and the process of conflict within marriages has, to this point been segregated and explored independently. Research is needed that explores how these key areas may impact one another in order to get a clearer understanding of what role that conflict plays in marital relationships. The current study is composed of an ongoing database of approximately 400 therapy cases from a marriage and family therapy training clinic with a COAMFTE approved master's degree program. The purpose of the study is to describe the relationship between conflict resolution and marital satisfaction in terms of how conflict may be used in marriages as a coping mechanism that helps to stabilize the negotiation of emotional closeness and distance between husbands and wives. That is, the study seeks to answer the question: If couples have the skills and resources for resolving their conflicts, what keeps them from doing so? Discovering an answer to this question may help therapists to provide more effective services to clients whose presenting problem is conflict in their marriage.