IS MARITAL AGGRANDIZEMENT A DYADIC CONSTRUCT?
In prior research with spouses of persons with dementia, the first author and colleague asserted that the individual is the locus of origin of marital aggrandizement (O’Rourke & Wenaus, 1998). Within this patient-caregiver dyad, it is unlikely that spouses reinforce each other’s perceptions. Indeed, the capacity to engage in reciprocal reflection upon shared autobiographical memories becomes impossible as neurodegeneration strips patients of their memories (DeLongis & O’Brien, 1990). A contrary view is held by Fowers and Applegate (1996) who contend that marital aggrandizement is reciprocally determined between spouses. They assume a sequence of circular reinforcement by which perceived satisfaction spirals upward within couples. Perceptions of the marriage become exclusively positive as each reinforces these beliefs of the other. Fowers and Applegate (1996) find support for this systemic hypothesis of reciprocal reinforcement in the significant correlation between marital aggrandizeme
