ABSTRACT
Psychologists have expended considerable energy studying marital communication, and much has been learned about the behaviors of distressed and satisfied spouses in problem-solving discussions (for a review see Weiss & Heyman, 1990). Surprisingly, however, marital researchers have paid little attention to talk qua talk, an omission that also is evidenced in the psychological literature on close relationships (Duck & Pond, 1989). In view of psychologists’ rejection of the sociological tradition of marital research, it is ironic that sociologists have long noted the importance of talk in social interaction, particularly in close relationships. 1 Berger and Kellner (1970), for example, observed that “the reality of the world is sustained through conversation with significant others” (p. 53) and that “in the marital conversation a world is not only built, but it is also kept in a state of repair and ongoingly refurbished” (p. 61).
