ABSTRACT
A review of the literature on emotion and its potential for illuminating marital dynamics by Bradbury and Fincham in 1987 highlighted the relative paucity of empirical work on emotion and marriage at the time. Since then, considerable progress has been made in clarifying the various functions of emotion, and data on individual differences in emotional experience have grown exponentially. The present chapter draws upon these recent developments and offers a framework for understanding the development of marital discord that might serve as a springboard for further empirical research on emotion and marriage. Using the recently proposed “marital discord model of depression” (Beach, Sandeen, & O'Leary, 1990) as a point of departure, we illustrate the potential power of the framework by showing how it can increase understanding of the development of depression among spouses in maritally discordant dyads. Our central thesis is that research on individual differences in affective experience or affective styles may help us better predict not only which couples are at greatest risk of developing marital discord but also which member of the discordant dyad is at greatest risk for developing a depressive disorder.
