Cognitive style and relationship quality in married dyads

Abstract Recently, cognitive personality researchers have begun to explore the social and interpersonal relevance of cognitive individual difference variables. Embedded in these examinations, however, is a methodological issue that bears importantly on our understanding of the role of these cognitive orientations in social relations. Specifically, personality studies have typically employed experimentally created dyads which, by limiting the representativeness of the sample, potentially limits the generalizability of the findings to more enduring “real‐life” dyads. In the present study, field dependence/field independence was examined as a potential mediator of relationship quality in married dyads. Consistent with Witkin's theory of psychological differentiation, it was predicted that spouses with relatively field‐dependent partners and individuals from dyads with similar levels of differentiation would have fewer complaints. Results showed, contrary to the predictions, that husbands married to field‐dependent wives and wives from matched dyads had more complaints about their marital relationships. These findings suggest the need for a careful evaluation of the role of cognitive style in the domain of intimate interpersonal relationships. Apparently, it may not be sufficient to generalize about the role of personality in social relationships from the results of studies employing experimentally created dyads or groups to other, more enduring and real‐life types of social relationships.