Abstract
Despite the present state of political animus in the U.S., relatively little research has examined how spousal political differences along ideological lines influence marital communication and conflict. This study examines wives’ perception of marital political conflict from the lens of serial arguments. Using a national sample of heterosexual married women, we examine interrelationships among perceived spousal ideological conflict and serial argument goals. We find that both wife’s own political ideology and wife’s perception of husband’s political ideology influence pursuit of serial argument goals. Specifically, the greater degree of self-rated conservatism, the less wives report expressing negativity or dominance/control. The greater the degree of wife-rated partner conservatism, the less likely wives report a serial goal of change. Implications for conceptualizing recurring spousal political conflict are discussed.
Journal Title
Iowa Journal of Communication
Volume
58
Issue
1
First Page
157
Last Page
179
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Goode, Jayne R. and Knight, Kendra
(2026)
"Ideological Women and Pursuit of Political Attitude and Opinion Change in Serial Arguments within Heterosexual Marriage,"
Iowa Journal of Communication: Vol. 58:
No.
1, Article 10.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ijc/vol58/iss1/10
Copyright
©2026 Iowa Communication Association
