Relação de poder entre cônjuges e representações sociais das estratégias de influência no casal

Abstract

It is difficult to address the theme of power relationships between couples due to the lack of consensus on the definition of family power and the biases found in studies based on self-reported decision-making. This study, which was developed using a questionnaire with opinion scales, aimed to reveal power relations between couples by examining behavior considered appropriate in situations involving disagreements between couples, requesting 384 married adults of both sexes to indicate the likelihood of a husband and wife using a set of influence strategies when attempting to impose their point of view. The results indicate a preference for soft strategies and great similarity in the strategies adopted by both spouses, but suggest that women need to make greater use of the range of strategies to succeed in influencing their husbands.

Keywords

• decision-making
• gender representations
• influence strategies
• marital roles
• power relations