The Social Level

Within any culture, the social milieu influ­ences romantic partners’ conflicts. That is, the presence or absence of other individuals and the interactions with those individuals affect romantic dyads’ conflicts.

Individuals who are part of the social con­text can influence relational conflicts. Wilson, Roloff, and Carey (1998) found that friends of dating partners often comment when they have negative opinions concerning the part­ners’ conflicts. Also, Klein and Milardo (2000) found that women perceived their positions on conflict issues to be more legitimate to the extent that they had support from people in their social network, and this perceived legitimacy was related to being unwilling to compromise.