Divorced Partner Traits

About Divorced Partner Traits

Recall that in phases two and three of the marriage, partners rated one another in terms of responsiveness and contrariness. During the divorced interview, we asked each ex-spouse to answer the questionnaire again, this time considering the two months before the couple seriously talked about getting a divorce. For each item listed below, respondents rated their ex-partner on a scale ranging from "1" (very much unlike my ex-partner) to "7" (very much like my ex-partner).

Fifteen positive traits and nine negative traits consistently clustered together. By "clustered together," we mean that people who saw their partner as possessing one of the traits also tended to see their partner as possessing the others. These traits formed two scales, one of which we labeled "responsiveness;" the other, "contrariness". The table below shows the traits included in the two scales:

Responsive	Contrary
Pleasant Cheerful Friendly Enthusiastic Polite Helpful Cooperative Considerate Easygoing Amusing Forgiving Sincere Patient Generous Energetic	Hot-tempered Quarrelsome Domineering Jealous Stubborn Fault-finding Moody Nosey

The ratings for responsiveness and contrariness were averaged across the traits. Thus, the scores could range from 1 to 7.

Finding

Scores for responsiveness and contrariness are on the divorced data packet cover sheet.

Interpreting

Many theories of marriage dissolution posit that couples lose interest in a relationship when rewards decline and costs rise; in addition, the more disenchanted a partner becomes, the more likely that person is to further devalue what rewards remain in the marriage, while exaggerating the costs. Partners' perceptions of each others' traits may follow this pattern. Look at the couple's new scores in comparison to the scores in the first three phases. Does your couple confirm this theory? Why or why not?

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Spouses' Traits Table of Contents