Suchergebnisse

Several cognitive and behavioral aspects of communication in interpersonal conflict were hypothesized to be affected by one central process, which it the tendency for stress to reduce conceptual complexity during conflict. It was hypothesized that in poorly adjusted relationships, stress associated with conflict discussions decreases conceptual complexity, increases attributional bias, and decreases speech hesitation and productivity. These predictions were examined in a study of videotaped conflict discussions involving college roommates. The results provided modest evidence of relationships between relationship adjustment, attributions of blame, and the complexity of spontaneous communications. Further analyses indicated that three nonverbal indicators of stress were related to attributions of blame, communicative complexity, and speech productivity, thereby supporting the assumption that stress mediates cognitive and behavioral responses to conflict. Speech hesitation, on the other hand, was not related to stress and cognition in the manner we had assumed.