Repairing Hurtful Messages in Marital Relationships

The effects of hurtful messages and accompanying repair strategies in interpersonal relationships have been noted individually; however, research has not investigated the relation of these two constructs in tandem. This study uses an attributional framework to examine use and the effectiveness of repair strategies with varying hurtful messages. Responses from 237 married adults indicated the justification repair strategy was used most often. The repair strategy of silence was perceived as the least effective. Informative messages were perceived as the most hurtful. Sources' intent and relational satisfaction were not significantly related to specific hurtful messages or subsequent repair strategies.