Cognitive Processes in Close Relationships: Recent Findings and Implications for Counseling

Coinciding with the recent growth of professional interest in relationship counseling has been the emergence of important research on the cognitive processes of persons in close relationships. In this article the author reviews selected findings from this literature, which illuminate the attributional, self‐evaluation, and self‐verification processes of participants in close relationships, and discusses their implications for the counseling of distressed couples.