| Sumario: | A study was conducted to examine marital interaction processes that are predictive of marital stability and divorce, which further discriminate between happily and unhappily married stable couples. Data were drawn from 130 newlywed couples that were assessed according to seven process models. Results revealed that models of anger as a dangerous emotion, active listening, and negative affect reciprocity were not predictive of marital stability. However, models of the husband rejecting the wife's influence, negative start-up by the wife, a lack of de-escalation of low intensity negative wife affect by the husband or a lack of de-escalation of high intensity husband negative affect by the wife, and a lack of physiological soothing of the male all predicted divorce. In addition, a contingent positive affect model and balance models of positive-to-negative affect predicted satisfaction among stable couples.
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