The Precarious Couple Effect: Verbally Inhibited Men + Critical, Disinhibited Women = Bad Chemistry

When critical, verbally disinhibited women are paired with verbally inhibited men, relationship quality suffers, rendering the relationship precarious. This effect theoretically emerges when (a) verbally disinhibited women pair with relatively inhibited men (man-more-inhibited couples) and (b) the disinhibition of women in man-more-inhibited couples amplifies womenʹs criticalness and alienates men. Three studies (Ns = 437, 300, and 564) provided evidence that relationship quality suffered in man-more-inhibited couples; a 4th study (N = 168) showed that the criticalness of women in man-more-inhibited couples did indeed undermine relationship quality. Implications for understanding the impact of gender expectations on relationships and for integrating behavioral and personological approaches to close relationships are discussed.