Recent qualitative investigations of abusive men have indicated that power and control of the wife are central themes in incidents of marital violence. Furthermore, anecdotal and empirical evidence suggest that abusive husbands hold more traditional sex-role stereotypes, are more possessive and jealous, and are more controlling than nonabusive husbands. This study investigated the effects of discrepancies between the affiliation needs of wives and husbands on marital violence. Subjects were 272 couples who participated in a longitudinal study of early marriage. Assessment took place 1 month prior to marriage and at 6, 18, and 30 months thereafter. The Autonomy Scale from Jackson's Personality Research Form was used to assess autonomy, and the Marital Adjustment Test was employed to measure relationship satisfaction. Relationship violence was assessed using The Conflict Tactics Scale. Results indicated that at 18 and 30 months of marriage women high in autonomy who married men low in autonomy reported a significantly greater amount of husband-to-wife violence than women low in autonomy. Women high in autonomy who married men low in autonomy did not differ in their reports of violence from women high in autonomy who married men high in autonomy. (ABL)