Perspective-taking as a determinant of marital adjustment and propensity to divorce

Graduation date: 1988Perspective-taking has been defined as the tendency\ud to take the point of view of another, to put oneself in\ud the psychological shoes of another. This ability has\ud been argued to be an important component of social\ud interaction. This research examined three components of\ud perspective-taking: a general measure of perspective\ud taking (PT), dyadic perspective-taking (DPT) and the\ud perceptions of a partner's dyadic perspective-taking\ud (PDPT). It was hypothesized that these three components\ud of perspective taking would be predictive of marital\ud adjustment and a propensity to divorce among a sample of\ud 159 married couples. Included in this study was the\ud development and initial psychometric assessments of the\ud dyadic perspective-taking and perceptions of dyadic\ud perspective-taking measures.\ud The results indicated that the Dyadic Perspective Taking and Perceptions of Dyadic Perspective-Taking\ud measures were both reliable and valid. All three\ud components of perspective-taking were found to be\ud predictive of marital adjustment for both husbands and\ud wives. Similarly perspective-taking was found to be\ud predictive of a propensity to divorce for both husbands\ud and wives. Overall the wives rated themselves and were\ud rated by their husbands as being superior in\ud perspective-taking ability. The perceptions of a\ud partner's perspective-taking were also positively\ud correlated with the pleasantness of interaction with a\ud partner.\ud The results were discussed within the context of a\ud social exchange framework of marital quality and\ud stability. Finally, implications for interventionists,\ud the limitations of the study and suggestions for future\ud research were discussed