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Abstract
The current study was conducted to investigate the thoughts romantic partners had as they discussed a topic of conflict in their relationship. A modified version of protocol analysis was employed to access couples' cognitions. Specifically, partners voiced their thoughts aloud as they engaged in a computer-mediated interaction. The findings yielded associations between individuals' cognitions and their relational satisfaction as well as differences between the cognitions of men and women. Individuals' vocalized thoughts also were associated with their partner's satisfaction. The results provide an interesting portrayal of various associations between the way partners feel about their relationship and the unspoken thoughts they have during the course of interaction. Possible theoretical and methodological implications for the literature on couples' cognitions and relational satisfaction are discussed.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Susan D. Corbin, Anne E. Lucchetti, and Rhonda J. Sprague for their invaluable contributions to this study. We also are indebted to John P. Caughlin, Mark L. Knapp, Katherine Miller, Alan L. Sillars, and three anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful feedback.
Notes
1. Although it is possible that the utility of a particular type of thought depends on its frequency, proportional data were used because the number of times participants expressed a thought may or may not be an accurate representation of the number of times they had that thought. Some participants may have voiced aloud a thought each time it came to mind, whereas others may have expressed a thought once or twice even though it came to mind several times.
2. The variables used in the APIM analysis were not centered. Maintaining the noncentered values allowed for a score of zero to represent the absence of an expressed cognition. Examination of correlation matrixes and collinearity statistics confirm that the use of noncentered values did not create multicollinearity issues for any of the models reported.