The Sequential and Distributional Structure of Conflict Interactions as a Function of Attributions Concerning the Locus of Responsibility and Stability of Conflicts

This study examines the sequential and distributional structure of discussions involving college roommates. Subjects were videotaped discussing a series of conflict issues that typically occur among roommates. The subjects privately completed questionnaires prior to the discussions where they identified conflicts they had experienced with their roommates, rated their own responsibility and their roommate's responsibility for causing these conflicts, and rated the stability of the conflicts. Discussions were coded into three categories of conflict resolution behavior—avoidance, distributive, and integrative. The results replicated an earlier finding obtained from self-report data that attributions of responsibility to the partner increase avoidance and distributive conflict strategies and decrease integrative strategies. In addition, the sequential structure of the discussions was affected by attributions of responsibility and stability. Finally, actor–observer differences in attributions, typically found in attribution studies, were shown to depend on relationship satisfaction and the perceived importance of conflicts.