Rational emotional therapy – it’s ok to have an emotion, just don’t have an emotion about it

Mandler – higher order plans or goals, we pay attention when these are interrupted

When we experience an interruption, we appraise it along two, critical dimensions:
Valence – is it good/bad, helpful/harmful?
Relevance/importance – does it mater?

The more meshed interconnections between P and O, the more potential for interruptions (when one partner fails to do what is expected, or does something unexpected)

Gottman 1979 – videotaped couples in laboratories and home settings – analysed conversations and identified patterns of verbal ‘mismanagement’

Petersen 1983 – four common causes of conflict: 1. criticism 2. illegitimate demands 3. rebuffs 4. cumulative annoyances

Four dialectical tensions: 1. autonomy vs connection 2. openness vs closedness 3. stability vs change 4. integration vs separation from others

Rusbult 1980s – four potential responses to conflict: 1. active 2. passive 3. constructive 4. destructive

Four conflict styles are associated with four kinds of behaviours (SEE NOTES)

Roberts 2000 – three types of distancing: 1. angry withdrawal 2. conflict avoidance 3. intimacy avoidance

Honeycutt et al. 1993 – rule-based approach to conflict
Couples endorsed four rules for handling conflict: 1. positive understanding (empathy) 2. rationality (don’t shout) 3. conciseness (don’t ramble on) 4. consideration (be kind)
Fitzpatrick 1988 – identified three types of couples: 1. traditionals – try to resolve conflict 2. independents – expect/seek conflict 3. separates – actively avoid conflict

Hare 2003 – the psychopathy checklist: 1. interpersonal manipulation facet - glibness/superficial charm - manipulative - grandiosity - pathological lying 2. callous affective facet - callous/lack of empathy - lack of remorse/guilt - shallow affect - failure to accept responsibility 3. erratic lifestyle facet - parasitic lifestyle - boredom proneness/need for stimulation - lack of realistic long-term goals - impulsivity 4. antisocial facet - early behavioural problems - juvenile delinquency - criminal versatility - poor behavioural controls - parole violations

French and Raven 1968 – Power Bases