Conflict and Decision Making in Close Relationships: Love, Money and Daily Routines

by Kirchler; Erich

• ISBN13: 9780863778117
• ISBN10: 0863778119
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-05-04
• Publisher: Psychology Pres

Summary

Love and money are important aspects of the everyday lives of couples. This book focuses on the daily routines of disagreement, conflict and joint decisions in the household. Central to the authors' research is a unique diary study of forty couples, who kept a daily record of their joint decisions over the course of a year. The diaries show how challenging varied and complex the conflicts and decision making of normal everyday life can be and reveal that goals frequently change during the decision-making process with the result that the final outcome often achieves a goal distinct from the original intention. Furthermore, the dynamics of decision making differ with the problem at stake, the decision-making history of the couple, and the quality of the partnership. The results of the diary study are discussed within the overall context of current research in the field as a whole, including discussion of joint decision-making case studies, close relationships, decision-making research in general and specialresearch methods. Numerous results of psychological, sociological, economic and consumer behavior studies are summarized and integrated into a model of household decision making.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Decisions in the Shared Home	1	(14)
The Vienna Diary Study	2	(3)
Case studies from the Vienna Diary Study: stories of three decisions	5	(8)
From desires, discussions, and disagreements to decisions	13	(2)
Love, Money, and Everyday Matters	15	(24)
Love	16	(9)
Money	25	(8)
Everyday matters	33	(6)
Close Relationships	39	(30)
Uniqueness of close relationships	39	(7)
Partners' aims and obligations	46	(2)
Relationship structures	48	(9)
Models of interaction	57	(12)
Decision-making	69	(20)
Disagreements versus decision-making processes	69	(2)
Types of decision-making	71	(7)
Models of decision-making	78	(11)
Methods for Studying Decision-making	89	(46)
Observation in the laboratory and in private settings	91	(4)
Interview techniques	95	(15)
Diaries	110	(25)
Close Relationships and Influence in Decisions	135	(26)
Interaction and disagreements over everyday matters	135	(7)
The influence of partners in conflicts and decision-making	142	(19)
Close Relationships and Decision Dynamics	161	(66)
The interconnectedness of decisions	161	(23)
Influence tactics	184	(27)
Decision outcomes: sense, fairness, and satisfaction	211	(16)
Summary	227	(10)
References	237	(20)
Author Index	257	(4)
Subject Index	261