Abstract
This study used the Relationship Attribution Measure (RAM), developed by Fincham & Bradbury (1992), with Japanese middle-aged couples, investigating the factor structure of the RAM, indices of reliability and concurrent validity with marital satisfaction. The confirmative factor analyses supported the two-factor structure for the Japanese version of the RAM, with similar trends as reported in Fincham & Bradbury (1992). The hypothesis model that the feeling love toward the partner affected withdrawal coping via marital attribution was tested using structural equation modeling. The results supported both the mediational role of marital attribution and the direct effect of marital love on withdrawal. Using pair data, the results suggested that wives' feeling love toward their husbands affected the husbands via negative attribution, but the husbands' feelings directly affected the wives' feelings. Thus the mediational model was supported only for wives, but not for husbands. Further research is needed to explore the relationship attribution in Japanese couples.
