The primary aim of this project is to better understand factors that contribute to perceptions of communication from a romantic partner as either hostile or non-hostile (constructive) in nature. The specific objectives are to: (1) characterize differences in the behaviors and cognitions that are associated with hostile and nonhostile communication, as defined by both objective ratings and subjective perceptions, and (2) identify individual and couple-level variables that can predict discrepancies between objective ratings and subjective perceptions of both hostile and nonhostile communication. The data collection was supported by a George Mason University Creative Award research grant awarded to Dr. Renshaw. The project coordinator was Sarah Klein, one of Dr. Renshaw's doctoral students.
For this project, community couples completed a set of baseline questionnaires and then came to the lab for a series of problem discussions that were videotaped. They provided ratings of each discussion on a number of dimensions, and the discussions will later be coded.