ABSTRACT
The chapter begins with a brief discussion of the basic principles of learning which are implicit in a social learning analysis. It describes a behavioral or social learning model of relationship distress. Marital distress can be described not only in terms of a reduced reward/punishment ratio, but also in terms of an increased reactivity to the partner’s aversive behavior. The model holds that there is a strong relationship between satisfaction in a relationship and the tendency to behave in a pleasing manner toward one’s spouse. Those relationship behaviors which are under the control of large classes of functionally similar partner behaviors are probably barometers for relationship satisfaction. The most blatant example of faulty behavior change strategies involves couples who develop coercive methods to modify the other person’s behavior. Deficits in behavior change skills can be lethal, since the need for change is present, at one time or another, in even the most compatible of relationships.
