Because attributional tendencies may often forecast marital behavior and because alcohol use is often seen as providing an excuse for deviant behavior, the study examined two potential moderators of the associations between husband violence and wife marital outcomes, wife attributional style and husband problem drinking tendencies. Data were collected using the Conflict Tactics Scale, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Marital Status Inventory, the Relationship Attribution Measure, and the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test. Results suggested responsibility attributions moderated the associations between husband violence and wife marital dissatisfaction but exerted a direct effect on wife disposition toward divorce. Husband problem drinking moderated the impact of husband violence only on wife disposition toward divorce. As would be expected from an "excuse" model of the associations between violence and marital outcomes, violence had less of an impact on marital satisfaction and divorce ideation when wives attributed responsibility for negative spouse behavior as external to their husbands and when husbands were problem drinkers. 35 references, 1 note, and 3 table