Giving up and giving in: The costs and benefits of daily sacrifice in intimate relationships.

This research provided the first empirical investigation of how approach and avoidance motives for sacrifice in intimate relationships are associated with personal well-being and relationship quality. In Study 1, the nature of everyday sacrifices made by dating partners was examined, and a measure of approach and avoidance motives for sacrifice was developed. In Study 2, which was a 2-week daily experience study of college students in dating relationships, specific predictions from the theoretical model were tested and both longitudinal and dyadic components were included. Whereas approach motives for sacrifice were positively associated with personal well-being and relationship quality, avoidance motives for sacrifice were negatively associated with personal well-being and relationship quality. Sacrificing for avoidance motives was particularly detrimental to the maintenance of relationships over time. Perceptions of a partner's motives for sacrifice were also associated with well-being and relationship quality. Implications for the conceptualization of relationship maintenance processes along these 2 dimensions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of Conflict and Support in Romantic Relationships: The Role of Attachment Anxiety.

Guided by attachment theory, a 2-part study was conducted to test how perceptions of relationship-based conflict and support are associated with relationship satisfaction/closeness and future quality. Dating partners completed diaries for 14 days (Part 1) and then were videotaped while discussing a major problem that occurred during the diary study (Part 2). Part 1 reveals that more anxiously attached individuals perceived more conflict with their dating partners and reported a tendency for conflicts to escalate in severity. Perceptions of daily relationship-based conflicts negatively impacted the perceived satisfaction/closeness and relationship futures of highly anxious individuals, whereas perceptions of greater daily support had positive effects. Part 2 reveals that highly anxious individuals appeared more distressed and escalated the severity of conflicts (rated by observers) and reported feeling more distressed. The authors discuss the unique features of attachment anxiety and how changing perceptions of relationship satisfaction/closeness and stability could erode commitment over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maintaining sexual desire in intimate relationships: The importance of approach goals.

Three studies tested whether adopting strong (relative to weak) approach goals in relationships (i.e., goals focused on the pursuit of positive experiences in one's relationship such as fun, growth, and development) predict greater sexual desire. Study 1 was a 6-month longitudinal study with biweekly assessments of sexual desire. Studies 2 and 3 were 2-week daily experience studies with daily assessments of sexual desire. Results showed that approach relationship goals buffered against declines in sexual desire over time and predicted elevated sexual desire during daily sexual interactions. Approach sexual goals mediated the association between approach relationship goals and daily sexual desire. Individuals with strong approach goals experienced even greater desire on days with positive relationship events and experienced less of a decrease in desire on days with negative relationships events than individuals who were low in approach goals. In two of the three studies, the association between approach relationship goals and sexual desire was stronger for women than for men. Implications of these findings for maintaining sexual desire in long-term relationships are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Protective buffering and psychological distress among couples coping with breast cancer: The moderating role of relationship satisfaction.

This study examined whether the association between protective buffering and psychological distress was moderated by relationship satisfaction. Protective buffering is defined as hiding worries, denying concerns, and yielding to one's partner in an effort to avoid disagreement and reduce one's partner's upset and burden. Two hundred thirty-five women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and their partners completed measures of protective buffering, psychological distress, and relationship satisfaction at 3 time points over an 18-month period after cancer diagnosis. The authors hypothesized that protective buffering would result in more distress among patients and partners reporting higher relationship satisfaction than among patients and partners reporting lower levels of relationship satisfaction. Patients' protective buffering predicted more distress among patients rating their relationships as more satisfactory, whereas the patients' buffering did not predict distress among patients rating their relationships as less satisfactory. Partner relationship satisfaction also moderated the association between patients' buffering and partners' distress. These findings elucidate conditions under which protective buffering may have detrimental effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clarifying links between attachment and relationship quality: Hostile conflict and mindfulness as moderators.

In this study we examined self-reported hostile conflict and mindfulness as potential moderators of the links between attachment and relationship quality over time in a sample of 1,702 online respondents. The analyses revealed that both attachment anxiety and avoidance were associated with lower levels of current relationship quality and attachment avoidance was linked with lower relationship satisfaction over time. The results offered partial support for the moderation hypotheses with attachment anxiety but failed to support moderation of attachment avoidance. Specifically, when predicting relationship satisfaction, hostile conflict moderated the effect of attachment anxiety such that high hostile conflict and high attachment anxiety were associated with particularly low current satisfaction. Shifts in hostile conflict over time also exacerbated the longitudinal associations between attachment anxiety and relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, mindfulness moderated the effects of attachment anxiety on stability such that high levels of mindfulness seemed to buffer relationships from the increased risk of breakup associated with high levels of attachment anxiety. Implications for research and treatment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Approach and avoidance achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: A mediational analysis.

Most contemporary achievement goal conceptualizations consist of a performance goal versus mastery goal dichotomy. The present research offers an alternative framework by partitioning the performance goal orientation into independent approach and avoidance motivational orientations. Two experiments investigated the predictive utility of the proposed approach-avoidance achievement goal conceptualization in the intrinsic motivation domain. Results from both experiments supported the proposed framework; only performance goals grounded in the avoidance of failure undermined intrinsic motivation. Task involvement was validated as a mediator of the observed effects on intrinsic motivation. Ramifications for the achievement goal approach to achievement motivation and future research avenues are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When do opposites attract? Interpersonal complementarity versus similarity.

Two experiments examined whether interpersonal complementarity or similarity influences people's satisfaction with dyadic interactions. Participants in complementary partnerships (submissive people with dominant partners, dominant people with submissive partners) reported more satisfaction than did those with similar partners. In Study 1 complementarity referred to the match between the participants' self-reported interpersonal style (dominant or submissive) and the role enacted by a confederate (dominant or submissive). In Study 2 participants interacted in pairs, and complementarity referred to the match between one participant's interpersonal goals and the other's overt behavior. Participants whose goals were complemented by their partners' behavior were more satisfied with the interaction than those whose goals were not. In both studies satisfied participants perceived their partners as similar to themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thinking of you: Nonconscious pursuit of interpersonal goals associated with relationship partners.

The mere psychological presence of relationship partners was hypothesized to trigger interpersonal goals that are then pursued nonconsciously. Qualitative data suggested that people tend to pursue different interpersonal goals within different types of relationships (e.g., mother, best friend, coworker). In several studies, priming participants' relationship representations produced goal-directed behavior (achievement, helping, understanding) in line with the previously assessed goal content of those representations. These findings support the hypothesis that interpersonal goals are component features of relationship representations and that mere activation of those representations, even in the partner's physical absence, causes the goals to become active and to guide behavior nonconsciously within the current situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal investigation of the affective environment in families with young children: From infancy to early school age.

We examined the affective environment in 102 families studied longitudinally when children were 7, 15, 25, 38, 52, and 67 months of age. At each assessment, every mother–child and father–child dyad was observed in typical daily contexts. Each person's emotions of affection, joy, and anger were coded. Both parents rated marital satisfaction when children were 15, 52, and 67 months. Growth curve analyses, using Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling, examined (a) developmental changes in emotions, (b) within-relationship influences of the partner's emotions, (c) across-relationship influences of emotions in other parent's interactions with the child, and (d) associations between marital quality and emotions over time. Parents' emotional expressiveness was highest early in the child's development, and declined thereafter. Children's anger was highest at 15 months of age, and declined thereafter, and their positive emotions, particularly with mothers, increased over time. Generally, one's positive emotions and better marital quality were associated with greater positive emotion within- and across-relationships, whereas one's anger was associated with greater anger within- and across-relationships. However, any emotion expression elicited greater affection in the interaction partner. Parents' neuroticism did not account for the convergence of emotions across relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trust, variability in relationship evaluations, and relationship processes.

Little is known about why some people experience greater temporal fluctuations of relationship perceptions over short periods of time, or how these fluctuations within individuals are associated with relational processes that can destabilize relationships. Two studies were conducted to address these questions. In Study 1, long-term dating partners completed a 14-day diary study that assessed each partner's daily partner and relationship perceptions. Following the diary phase, each couple was videotaped trying to resolve the most important unresolved problem from the diary period. As predicted, (a) individuals who trusted their partners less reported greater variability in perceptions of relationship quality across the diary period; (b) they also perceived daily relationship-based conflict as a relatively more negative experience; and (c) greater variability in relationship perceptions predicted greater self-reported distress, more negative behavior, and less positive behavior during a postdiary conflict resolution task (rated by observers). The diary results were conceptually replicated in Study 2a, in which older cohabiting couples completed a 21-day diary. These same participants also took part in a reaction-time decision-making study (Study 2b), which revealed that individuals tend to compartmentalize positive and negative features of their partners if they (individuals) experienced greater variability in relationship quality during the 21-day diary period and were involved in higher quality relationships. These findings advance researchers' understanding of trust in intimate relationships and provide some insight into how temporal fluctuations in relationship quality may undermine relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reaching one's personal goals: A motivational perspective focused on autonomy.

The present article reviews recent research on motivational factors that influence the success of personal goals. Although achieving progress on personal goals is made difficult by limitations in self-regulatory strength, it is argued that individuals who feel autonomous regarding their goals will benefit in distinct ways. The issue of autonomy concerns whether a goal reflects an individual's interests and personal values versus whether it is adopted because of social pressures or expectations of what an individual "should do." Recent research indicates that autonomous goal motivation can lead directly to greater goal progress by allowing individuals to exert more effort, experience less conflict, and feel a greater sense of readiness to change their behaviour. It also allows individuals to make better use of implementation plans specifying how, when, and where they will enact goal-directed behaviours. Support from other people (health care providers, etc.) can play a vital role in facilitating goal pursuits, especially when such support enhances feelings of autonomy. Successful goal progress results in enhanced positive affect and reduced negative affect, particularly if the goal pursuits involved satisfaction of intrinsic psychological needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Secure Base: Responsive Support of Goal Strivings and Exploration in Adult Intimate Relationships.

A theoretical framework is proposed for examining the interpersonal processes involved in the support of a relationship partner's goal strivings, personal growth, and exploratory behavior, and for examining consequences of receiving either responsive or unresponsive support in this domain. These processes were examined using both observational and experimental methods. In Phase 1, couples were videotaped as they discussed personal goals for the future. In Phase 2, support behavior was experimentally manipulated to examine immediate effects on the recipient. Results indicated that responsive (nonintrusive) support of a relationship partner's goal strivings and explorations have important implications for the recipient's happiness, self-esteem, and perceived likelihood of achieving specific goals. The importance of research examining this type of support is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The pushes and pulls of close relationships: Attachment insecurities and relational ambivalence.

Attachment theorists have emphasized that attachment-anxious individuals are ambivalent in their relational tendencies, wishing to be close to their relationship partners but also fearing rejection. Here we report 6 studies examining the contribution of attachment anxiety and experimentally induced relational contexts (both positive and negative) to explicit and implicit manifestations of (a) attitudinal ambivalence toward a romantic partner and (b) motivational ambivalence with respect to the goals of relational closeness and distance. Attachment-anxious individuals exhibited strong attitudinal ambivalence toward a romantic partner, assessed by both explicit and implicit measures. They also exhibited strong motivational ambivalence regarding closeness (both explicit and implicit), and this motivational conflict was intensified in relational contexts that encouraged either approach or avoidance tendencies. Participants who scored relatively high on avoidant attachment proved to be implicitly ambivalent about distance issues but mainly in negative relational contexts. Several alternative interpretations of the results were considered and ruled out. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Addressees of performance goals.

As performance goals aim to both procure acknowledgment of one's abilities and to avoid revealing a lack of one's abilities, the authors hypothesized that students hold specific performance goals for different addressees and that there are specific correlational patterns with other motivational constructs. They analyzed a data set of 2,675 pupils (1,248 boys and 1,426 girls) attending Grades 8 and 9 (mean age=15.0, SD=0.97). The students completed a questionnaire consisting of 12 items measuring performance approach goals and 12 items measuring performance avoidance goals. In each subset, 4 groups of addressees were differentiated: parents, teachers, peers, and the acting individual him/herself. Additionally, several external criteria were measured. The authors concurrently tested theory-driven, structural equation models. Incorporating all 24 items, the best-fitting model was a multitrait-multimethod model, which posited 2 factors for approach and avoidance goals and 4 addressee factors. While performance goals addressing parents showed relationships to maladaptive motivational and learning patterns, performance goals addressing classmates and self showed relationships to adaptive motivational and learning patterns. The relationships between performance goals addressing teachers and external criteria were rather weak and unsystematic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Calibrating the sociometer: The relational contingencies of self-esteem.

A longitudinal daily diary study examined how chronic perceptions of a partner's regard for oneself might affect the day-to-day relational contingencies of self-esteem. Married partners each completed a diary for 21 days, and completed measures of satisfaction twice over the year. Multilevel analyses revealed that people who chronically felt more positively regarded compensated for one day's acute self-doubts by perceiving greater acceptance and love from their partner on subsequent days. In contrast, people who chronically felt less positively regarded by their partner internalized acute experiences of rejection, feeling worse about themselves on days after they feared their partner's disaffection. Over the year, such self-esteem sensitivity to rejection predicted declines in the partner' s satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Projection of responsiveness to needs and the construction of satisfying communal relationships.

This research tested a social projection model of perceived partner responsiveness to needs. According to this model, people project their own care and supportiveness for a partner onto their perceptions of their partner's caring and supportiveness. In 2 dyadic marriage studies, participants' self-reported responsiveness to the needs of a spouse predicted perceptions of the spouse's responsiveness to the self more strongly than did the spouse's self-reported responsiveness. These projected perceptions of responsiveness, in turn, appeared to promote perceivers' relationship satisfaction. These effects were independent of individual differences in attachment, self-esteem, depression, and communal orientation. A daily-diary component suggested that people projected their own chronic responsiveness as well as their daily enacted support onto perceptions of the specific benefits received from their spouses. A 3rd study found that experimentally manipulated feelings of difficulty in recalling examples of own support provision reduced perceptions of partner responsiveness. Results suggest that projection of own responsiveness is an important determinant of perceived social support and is a means by which caring perceivers maintain satisfying and subjectively communal relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Only because I love you: Why people make and why they break promises in romantic relationships.

People make and break promises frequently in interpersonal relationships. In this article, we investigate the processes leading up to making promises and the processes involved in keeping them. Across 4 studies, we demonstrate that people who had the most positive relationship feelings and who were most motivated to be responsive to the partner's needs made bigger promises than did other people but were not any better at keeping them. Instead, promisers' self-regulation skills, such as trait conscientiousness, predicted the extent to which promises were kept or broken. In a causal test of our hypotheses, participants who were focused on their feelings for their partner promised more, whereas participants who generated a plan of self-regulation followed through more on their promises. Thus, people were making promises for very different reasons (positive relationship feelings, responsiveness motivation) than what made them keep these promises (self-regulation skills). Ironically, then, those who are most motivated to be responsive may be most likely to break their romantic promises, as they are making ambitious commitments they will later be unable to keep. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress and reactivity to daily relationship experiences: How stress hinders adaptive processes in marriage.

Maintaining a relationship requires that intimates successfully navigate the ups and downs of their daily experiences with their partners. Intimates whose daily global satisfaction is heavily dependent on these experiences exhibit worse relationship outcomes than do intimates whose satisfaction is less sensitive to fluctuating daily experiences. The current studies examined how intimates’ reactivity to daily experiences within the relationship is affected by their experiences of stress outside the relationship. Using diary data, Study 1 examined the covariance between spouses’ daily global and specific relationship evaluations in 146 newlywed couples. Between-subjects analyses revealed that daily global satisfaction covaried with perceptions of specific relationship experiences more strongly in spouses experiencing more stress. Study 2 examined the within-person association between reactivity and stress using 7-day diaries collected at 3 time points over 4 years in a sample of 82 couples. Intimates’ reactivity to daily relationship experiences was stronger when they were experiencing greater than normal stress. All findings held when controlling for the influence of various individual difference factors on reactivity. These findings highlight ways that adaptive relationship functioning may be constrained by external stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

College student drinking and meaning in the pursuit of life goals.

The current study was designed to examine the association between risky alcohol use and life goals among college students. Introductory psychology students completed a questionnaire that included measures of typical life goals and alcohol use behavior. Students listed their 5 most typical life goals and rated them each on a series of dimensions from which 2 factors were derived (i.e., Goal Meaning, Goal Efficacy). Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the lower levels of goal meaning were associated with more heavy episodic use of alcohol and alcohol-related negative consequences. Results are consistent with motivational models of drinking that depict alcohol use as a function of satisfaction from other life goals. Findings support the importance of understanding college student drinking within the broader context of life goal appraisal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linking hearts and minds in couple interactions: Intentions, attributions, and overriding sentiments.

This study examined the role of emotion and relationship satisfaction in shaping attributions about a partner's intentions in couple interactions. Using video recall, participants (N = 156 couples) reported on their own and their partner's intentions and emotions during affective moments of a discussion about an upsetting event. Links were found between relationship satisfaction and factor-analytically derived intention and attribution scales. Attributions about a partner's intentions were weakly to moderately correlated with the partner's self-reported intentions. Relationship satisfaction accounted for part of the discrepancy between self-reported intentions and partner attributions. Emotions mediated the links between relationship satisfaction and attributions, suggesting that clinicians working with distressed couples should pay more attention to the emotional climate in which attributions are made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)