This study was conducted to examine the moderating effects of attributions on the relationship between marital satisfaction and marital violence. It was predicted that distressed spouses who made more maladaptive attributions for partner behavior would be more likely to engage in marital violence than would distressed spouses who offered fewer maladaptive attributions for partner behavior. Sixty-six married couples participated in the study. Each spouse independently completed a battery of self-report measures and provided demographic information. Subjects completed the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS), the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), and the Relationship Attribution Measure (RAM). The findings revealed that, consistent with prior research, decreased marital satisfaction was significantly associated with increased marital violence for husbands and for wives. Increasing marital distress was significantly associated with more causal attributions and more responsibility attributions for negative partner behaviors. Marital violence was significantly related to maladaptive responsibility attributions among husbands. Marital violence was not related to causal attributions among husbands, nor was marital violence related to responsibility attributions or causal attributions among wives. The findings revealed that attributional processes moderated the relationship between marital satisfaction and marital violence among husbands, but not among wives. (NB)