Conflict Tactics and the Level of Emotional Commitment Among Unmarrieds

Abstract

The responses of 690 college students were analyzed to determine if the level of emotional commitment in their relationship affected the type of conflict tactics used. Significant differences were found between the lowest level and higher levels of commitment for the Reasoning and the Verbal Aggression subscales while no differences were found among the levels of commitment based on the Violence subscale. The Reasoning score increased significantly at the point when the subject became emotionally attached to his or her partner. Also, females reported significantly higher Reasoning and Verbal Aggression scores than did the males. The study indicated that at the point the subjects decide that their partner was a potential mate, major distortions occurred in how the subjects view the partners' conflict tactics behaviors. This period of distortion is referred to as the period of partner idolization and its impact on both the respondent's and their partner's behavior is discussed.