Channel consistency and inconsistency in the communications of married couples.

48 married couples were videotaped while they discussed their relationship. The conversation was divided into thought units (basically speaker turns), and each unit was coded 4 times. Positive messages were used more by Ss with high and moderate levels of marital adjustment (MAD) (as measured by the short Marital Adjustment Test), whereas negative messages were used more by Ss low in MAD. Neutral messages were used more by males than females, particularly among the low-MAD Ss. Over all adjustment levels, neutral messages were used more in the verbal channel, positive messages were used less in the verbal channel, and negative messages were used less in the verbal and visual channels. The most frequently occurring discrepancies were those with positivity in the visual channel and negativity in the verbal or vocal channels, particularly the vocal channel. The percentage of discrepancies involving positivity in the visual channel and negativity in the vocal channel increased linearly from the high- to low-MAD Ss, with females generally using more of these communications than males. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).