ABSTRACT
For many years, “communication” has been identified as an important issue in relationships. Whether in popular culture, self-help books, or psychological research, communication has been cited frequently as one of the main problems among distressed couples and as a focus for couple therapy (e.g., Weiss & Heyman, 1997). Despite this emphasis on communication, our understanding of this construct has rarely gone beyond stating that positive communication is good for relationships, whereas negative communication is bad. A more specific understanding of the dyadic interactions underlying this construct and the effects such interactions might have on relationship satisfaction has not been explored nearly as much as the broader focus. However, one specific area of communication that has received more in depth focus is the demand—withdraw pattern. This pattern, extensively researched by Christensen and colleagues (e.g., see reviews by Christensen & Heavey, 1993; Eldridge & Christensen, in press), focuses on the tendency for one partner to criticize, blame, and demand change whereas the other withdraws, emotionally, physically, or both. Demand—withdraw, which can become increasingly polarized over time, is related to lower levels of relationship satisfaction (Eldridge & Christensen, in press).
