The Effect of Cognitive Appraisal on Intimate Relationships

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine attributional styles relating to the self, and how they relate to one’s cognitive processes within an intimate relationship. The Attributional Styles Questionnaire (ASQ) is based on the idea that depressive symptoms are associated with an attributional style in which uncontrollable bad events are attributed to internal (vs. external), stable (vs. unstable), and global (vs. specific) causes (Peterson et al., 1982). This experiment tests the relationships between one’s attributional style relating to events involving oneself, one’s attributional style relating to events involving a partner within an intimate relationship, and one’s overall relationship quality. This includes relationship satisfaction, love, conflict, and stability. The ASQ relating to the self and the ASQ relating to one’s partner are assessed and discussed along with various relationship quality assessments. Keywords: Pessimistic, optimistic, attributional style, uncontrollable events, causal attributions, intimate relationships, cognitive appraisal