Attraction and exchange in continuing and noncontinuing dating relationships.

Investigated measures enabling one to assess general feelings about a relationship, social exchange behaviors, and the particularism and symbolism of resources given to and received from another by examining, longitudinally, 38 dating couples. At least 1 member of each pair was an undergraduate student. These variables were first measured shortly after a couple began to date and again 4 mo later. Findings show that in contrast to what might be expected from prevailing theories of relationship development, the later status of couples (still dating or not) could be predicted with a high degree of accuracy from the initial measures. This finding corroborates and extends previous work dealing with same-sex friendships. Couples who were still dating 4 mo later demonstrated greater love, more relationship-maintaining behaviors, more favorable evaluations of the dating relationship, and greater amounts of self-disclosure at the time of initial contact than did couples who broke up. Over time, these differences between couples who did and who did not continue dating intensified. In terms of the types of resources Ss gave and received from their dating partner, more particularistic and more symbolic resources were exchanged in continuing couples only later. Although both continuing and noncontinuing couples showed a decrease in the correlation between the love that members reported, this was offset in continuing daters by increasingly similar reports of reward, equity, and liking. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of salience of extrinsic rewards on liking and loving.

Tested the attribution theory notion that making the extrinsic rewards that individuals provide for their partners salient would decrease the amount of love and, perhaps, liking that the partners actually report for their girlfriends or boyfriends. 19 undergraduate dating couples were induced to adopt either an extrinsic or an intrinsic cognitive set regarding their reasons for associating with their partners. Then their liking and love for each other were assessed. Results indicate that the induced salience of extrinsic rewards led couples to report less love but not less liking. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflict in close relationships: An attachment perspective.

This study investigated how perceptions of current dating partners and relationships change after people with different attachment orientations attempt to resolve a problem in their relationship. Dating couples were videotaped while they tried to resolve either a major or a minor problem. Confirming predictions from attachment theory, men and women who had a more ambivalent orientation perceived their partner and relationship in relatively less positive terms after discussing a major problem. Observer ratings revealed that more ambivalent women who tried to resolve a major problem displayed particularly strong stress and anxiety and engaged in more negative behaviors. Conversely, men with a more avoidant orientation were rated as less warm and supportive, especially if they discussed a major problem. These results are discussed in terms of how highly ambivalent and highly avoidant people differentially perceive and respond to distressing events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of analyzing reasons on attitude–behavior consistency.

In Studies 1 and 2, 58 undergraduates were familiarized with attitude objects (puzzle or photographs), and half were instructed to analyze why they felt the way they did about these objects. Both self-report and behavioral measures of attitudes toward the objects were then assessed. In Study 3, 39 college couples involved in dating relationships were or were not asked to analyze their relationship, and self-report and behavioral measures of adjustment (e.g., whether the couples were still dating several months later) were also assessed. In all 3 studies, Ss who explained reasons for their attiudes (reasons analysis condition) had significantly lower correlations between their attitudes and behavior than Ss who did not explain reasons for their attitudes (control condition). Evidence for the hypothesis that Ss in the reasons analysis conditions changed their attitudes in a less accurate direction is presented, and reasons why this change might take place are discussed. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Couples research as couples counseling: Some unintended effects of studying close relationships.

By asking members of couples to examine their relationships and by prompting them to discuss feelings and issues with one another, the couples researcher may play a role in shaping the relationships that he is studying. As a result, the couples researcher unwittingly becomes a couples counselor. Our own longitudinal study of dating couples had such effects, in some cases strengthening a couple's relationship, in other cases facilitating its dissolution. These effects seem attributable to processes of definition at the individual level and of disclosure at the interpersonal level. The recognition of such effects has important methodological and ethical implications. In addition, the view of couples research as unintended couples counseling may point to some useful suggestions for the practice of intended couples counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When the head protects the heart: Empathic accuracy in dating relationships.

This study investigated circumstances in which romantic partners may be motivated to inaccurately infer each other's thoughts and feelings. Dating couples rated and discussed pictures of opposite-sex people with whom they might later interact in a dating context. Couples evaluated either highly attractive persons or less attractive persons. As predicted, dating partners who were close, who were insecure about their relationship, and who evaluated highly attractive opposite-sex persons displayed the least empathic accuracy when they tried to infer each other's actual thoughts and feelings from the videotape of the rating and discussion task. The effects of these variables were additive, and they were mediated by the degree of perceived threat to the relationship. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sequential analysis of chronic pain behaviors and spouse responses.

Social reinforcers such as spouse behaviors have been hypothesized to be important in maintaining chronic pain behavior. This study used direct observation to test whether solicitous and aggressive spouse behaviors systematically precede and follow patient pain behaviors. 50 chronic pain patients and spouses and 33 control couples were videotaped performing specified tasks. Spouse solicitous behaviors were significantly more likely to precede and follow nonverbal pain behaviors, and nonverbal pain behaviors were significantly less likely to follow spouse aggressive behaviors in pain than in control couples. Within couples, spouse solicitous behaviors preceded and followed verbal and nonverbal pain behaviors beyond chance levels more often in pain than in control couples. Results support an operant conceptualization of factors maintaining chronic pain behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Violent versus nonviolent couples: A comparison of patterns.

Administered a research questionnaire to 3 groups of married couples (19 violent couples, 7 nonviolent couples in marital therapy, and 24 nonviolent couples not in therapy) to identify characteristics of violent couples. Violent Ss were engaged in counseling for wife battery. Results show that alcohol was the most significant factor operating in violent marriages. Violent couples were also found to have significantly more stereotyped sex-role attitudes, more aggressive and passive behaviors, less marital satisfaction, and a greater degree of dissatisfaction with decision making in the family. Violent couples usually witnessed more violence in their childhood homes. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of behavioral marital therapy on couples' communication and problem-solving skills.

Videotaped 55 couples' (mean age 33.5 yrs) interacting and coded discussions of problem areas. 29 couples were being treated with behavioral marital therapy, 14 couples were in a waiting-control group, and 12 were nondistressed couples. Analysis showed that treated couples had significantly more positive and less negative behaviors than the control couples. The interaction patterns of treated Ss resembled the pattern exhibited by the nondistressed couples. However, it was also found that treated Ss appeared to react to aversive stimuli from their spouses. It is suggested that behavioral observation is valuable in improving therapeutic interventions on an empirical basis. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The causal effects of emotion on couples' cognition and behavior.

The authors conducted 2 translational studies that assessed the causal effects of emotion on maladaptive cognitions and behaviors in couples. Specifically, the authors examined whether negative emotions increased and positive emotions decreased partner attributions and demand-withdraw behaviors. Study 1 (N=164) used video clips to assess the effects of emotion on individuals' attributions. Study 2 (N=47 couples) was a therapy analogue study intended to assess whether emotion generated from couples' conversations would influence subsequent attributions and behaviors. Results indicate that participants in the negative emotion conditions tended to attribute more blame to their partners and were more likely to engage in demand-withdraw patterns and other negative behaviors than were those in the positive emotion conditions. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spouses as observers of the events in their relationship.

Investigated the reliability of spouses as observers of the behaviors that occur in their own marital relationships. 16 distressed and 20 nondistressed couples (as measured by Dyadic Adjustment Scale) were paid to collect data in the home on 21 consecutive evenings. Spouses completed a behavioral checklist in which they independently indicated which of 409 behaviors had occurred during the preceding 24 hrs. The average agreement for all couples was 47.8%. Nondistressed couples exhibited significantly greater consensus than did distressed couples. However, when comparisons were made on selected individual categories of behavior, differences between distressed and nondistressed couples held up only for percentage agreement. Suggestive evidence is presented that inferential items were less reliably coded than noninferential. Discussion centers on the implications for viewing spouse-collected data as observational data, possible innovations in data collection procedures that could result in more reliable recording, and theoretical implications of the low rate of consensus between spouses. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal effects of conflict behaviors on depressive symptoms in young couples.

This study investigated relationship dynamics contributing to gender differences in depression by testing longitudinal associations between observed conflict behaviors and depressive symptoms in young couples. Direct effects of psychological aggression, positive engagement, and withdrawal, as well as indirect effects via relationship satisfaction were considered. Participants were 68 heterosexual couples involving men from the Oregon Youth Study who remained in a stable relationship across at least 2 and up to 10 years from their early 20s to early 30s. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test both between-couples differences in symptom trajectories predicted by partner behaviors and within-couple covariation between behaviors and depressive symptoms across 5 time points. Higher levels of women’s positive engagement predicted lower symptom levels for both partners, and higher women’s withdrawal predicted higher own symptom levels. Relative increases in couples’ psychological aggression and decreases in positive engagement were additionally associated with increases in women’s symptoms over time. Whereas between-couples behavior effects on women’s symptoms were mediated by relationship satisfaction, within-couple effects proved independent of satisfaction. Implications for mechanisms of depression risk and maintenance in couples are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cross-cultural examination of the relation of marital communication behavior to marital satisfaction.

Numerous studies have examined the communication behaviors of Western, primarily North American, couples and have demonstrated a robust and reliable association between marital satisfaction and couple communication. However, there has been relatively less attention given to the generalizability of these findings to non-Western couples. To address this issue, the authors conducted an observational study of marital communication among couples from 3 different cultural groups: 50 White American couples, 52 Pakistani couples in Pakistan, and 48 immigrant Pakistani couples in America. The results show that positive and negative communication behaviors were associated with marital satisfaction within each of the 3 cultural groups. However, the American group's marital satisfaction was more strongly related to marital communication behaviors than was that of the Pakistani group and, to a lesser extent, the immigrant group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress resilience in early marriage: Can practice make perfect?

As all couples experience stressful life events, addressing how couples adapt to stress is imperative for understanding marital development. Drawing from theories of stress inoculation, which suggest that the successful adaptation to moderately stressful events may help individuals develop a resilience to future stress, the current studies examined whether experiences with manageable stressors early in the marriage may serve to make the relationship more resilient to future stress. In Study 1, 61 newlywed couples provided data regarding their stressful life events, relationship resources (i.e., observed problem-solving behaviors), and marital satisfaction at multiple points over 2? years. Results revealed that among spouses displaying more effective problem-solving behaviors, those who experienced moderate stress during the early months of marriage exhibited fewer future stress spillover effects and reported greater increases in felt efficacy than did spouses who had less experience with early stress. Study 2 examined stress resilience following the transition to parenthood in a new sample of 50 newlywed couples. Again, spouses who experienced moderate stress during the early months of marriage and had good initial relationship resources (i.e., observed support behaviors) reported greater marital adjustment following the transition to parenthood than did spouses who had good initial resources but less prior experience coping with stress. Together, results indicate that entering marriage with better relationship resources may not be sufficient to shield marital satisfaction from the detrimental effects of stress; rather, couples may also need practice in using those resources to navigate manageable stressful events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood emotional abuse and attachment processes in the dyadic adjustment of dating couples.

In an effort to improve understanding of the mechanisms that link early maltreatment to later outcomes, this study investigated the mediation effects of adult attachment processes on the association between childhood emotional abuse and later romantic relationships among heterosexual couples. College students and their dating partners (N = 310; 155 couples) completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Experiences in Close Relationship Scale, and Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Using the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006), multilevel modeling results indicated that memories of childhood emotional abuse reported by both students and their partners were significantly associated with attachment strategies, as well as romantic relationship quality. Findings supported hypothesized mediation effects of attachment anxiety and avoidance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural and temperamental variation in emotional response.

To examine the relative influence of cultural and temperamental factors on emotional response, we compared the emotional behavior, reports of emotional experience, and autonomic responses of 50 European American (EA) and 48 Chinese American (CA) college-age dating couples during conversations about conflicts in their relationships. EA couples showed more positive and less negative emotional behavior than did CA couples, despite similarities in reports of emotional experience and autonomic reactivity. Group differences in emotional behavior were mediated by cultural (values and practices) but not temperamental factors (neuroticism and extraversion). Collapsing across groups, cultural factors accounted for greater variance in emotional behavior but lesser variance in reports of emotional experience compared with temperamental factors. Together, these findings suggest that the relative influence of cultural and temperamental factors on emotion varies by response component. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Support behavior and relationship satisfaction in couples dealing with diabetes: Main and moderating effects.

This study examined associations between support behavior, i.e. active engagement and protective buffering, and relationship satisfaction in both patients with diabetes and their partners. Active engagement refers to supportive behavior characterized by involving one's partner in discussions, asking how the other feels, and problem solving strategies. Protective buffering refers to less supportive behavior characterized by denying fears and worries, and by pretending everything is fine. Furthermore, we examined whether there were interactive effects of these two support behaviors on patients' and partners' relationship satisfaction. At baseline (T1), 205 couples rated to which degree they received active engagement and protective buffering from their partners, and completed a measure of relationship satisfaction. At three follow-up assessments, couples were asked to fill out the same measures. Using dyadic data analytic approaches, we found relationship satisfaction to be positively associated with active engagement, and negatively with protective buffering, in both patients and partners. Moreover, we found a moderating effect, in that the negative association between protective buffering and relationship satisfaction was only present when levels of active engagement were relatively low. Again, these results were found for patients as well as their partners. We were able to replicate the T1 results at the other three assessment points. Our findings illustrate the need to consider adequate and less adequate support behaviors simultaneously, and to study the effects on both patients and partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mind-Reading Accuracy in Intimate Relationships: Assessing the Roles of the Relationship, the Target, and the Judge.

Using a video-review procedure, multiple perceivers carried out mind-reading tasks of multiple targets at different levels of acquaintanceship (50 dating couples, friends of the dating partners, and strangers). As predicted, the authors found that mind-reading accuracy was (a) higher as a function of increased acquaintanceship, (b) relatively unaffected by target effects, (c) influenced by individual differences in perceivers' ability, and (d) higher for female than male perceivers. In addition, superior mind-reading accuracy (for dating couples and friends) was related to higher relationship satisfaction, closeness, and more prior disclosure about the problems discussed, but only under moderating conditions related to sex and relationship length. The authors conclude that the nature of the relationship between the perceiver and the target occupies a pivotal role in determining mind-reading accuracy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preadoptive factors predicting lesbian, gay, and heterosexual couples' relationship quality across the transition to adoptive parenthood.

The authors examined preadoptive factors as predictors of relationship quality (love, ambivalence, and conflict) among 125 couples (44 lesbian couples, 30 gay male couples, and 51 heterosexual couples) across the 1st year of adoptive parenthood. On average, all new parents experienced declines in their relationship quality across the 1st year of parenthood regardless of sexual orientation, with women experiencing steeper declines in love. Parents who, preadoption, reported higher levels of depression, greater use of avoidant coping, lower levels of relationship maintenance behaviors, and less satisfaction with their adoption agencies reported lower relationship quality at the time of the adoption. The effect of avoidant coping on relationship quality varied by gender. Parents who, preadoption, reported higher levels of depression, greater use of confrontative coping, and higher levels of relationship maintenance behaviors reported greater declines in relationship quality. These findings have implications for professionals who work with adoptive parents both pre- and postadoption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of couple patterns of problem solving on distress and nondistress in dating relationships.

Tested a theory of couple patterns of problem solving that involves the voice/loyalty/neglect typology of problem-solving responses advanced by the 1st author and I. M. Zembrodt (1983). 68 undergraduate dating couples were administered a questionnaire that included a measure of self-reported responses and perceptions of partner's responses, a liking and loving instrument, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Destructive problem-solving responses (exit and neglect) were more powerfully predictive of couple distress/nondistress than were constructive problem-solving behaviors (voice and loyalty). Tendencies to react with voice to mild relationship problems were also significantly predictive of couple functioning. Partner perceptions of one another's problem-solving styles were related to couple distress/nondistress: Distress was greater to the extent that Ss perceived that their partners exhibited greater tendencies to engage in exit and neglect while showing lower levels of voice and (perhaps) loyalty. Certain interdependent patterns of partner problem solving were effectively predictive of couple health: Couple distress was greater to the degree that Ss reacted destructively and failed to respond constructively when their partners engaged in destructive problem-solving responses. Thus it is the way in which partners react in response to destructive behaviors from their partners that is best predictive of relationship health. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)