Two studies were conducted to compare the attachment patterns, dependency, and jealousy of violent and maritally distressed husbands with that of nonviolentdistressed and nonviolent-nondistressed husbands. In Study 1, participants completed the Adult Attachment Scale, Spouse Specific Dependency Scale, and Interpersonal Jealousy Scale. In Study 2, participants completed the Relationship Styles Questionnaire, Rempel Trust Scale, and Adult Attachment Interview. Results were generally consistent with hypotheses that, relative to nonviolent husbands, violent men would evidence more insecure, preoccupied, and disorganized attachment (e.g., anxiety about abandonment, discomfort with closeness, and difficulty in classifying attachment); more dependency on and preoccupation with their wives; and more jealousy and less trust in their marriage. In addition, the findings suggest that researchers need to more carefully compare various measures of attachment.Attachment refers to the propensity of human beings to make strong emotional bonds to others (Bowlby, 1977). Attachment was originally studied in infants, theorists hypothesizing that attachment protects and enhances infants'

This study compared attributions for negative wife behavior offered by three groups of husbands: 22 maritally violent and distressed, 17 nonviolent but maritally distressed, and 17 nonviolent and nondistressed. Husbands rated wife behaviors presented in nine hypothetical problematic marital situation vignettes. On a measure of responsibility attributions, violent husbands were more likely than nondistressed husbands to attribute negative intentions, selfish motivation, and blame to the wife. On a measure of possible negative wife intentions, violent husbands were more likely than either distressed or nondistressed men to attribute negative intentions to the wife. Exploratory analyses suggested that certain types of marital situations (e.g., jealousy and rejection from wife) were particularly likely to elicit attributions of negative intent from violent husbands.

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