Relation of verbal, affective, and physical intimacy to marital satisfaction.

Explored the relation of verbal, affective, and physical intimacy—to marital satisfaction in 43 couples (aged 18–59 yrs). The majority of Ss had sought counseling for marital problems. Ss completed questionnaires on intimacy and marital satisfaction and were then audiotaped during a discussion of their relationship. The 3 types of intimacy were highly predictive of both perceived marital satisfaction and a measure of thought and behaviors indicative of potential for divorce. Measures of verbal and affective intimacy made stronger contributions to the prediction of marital satisfaction than did physical intimacy. The interactions among the 3 types of intimacy did not contribute significantly to the prediction of satisfaction, nor was there any evidence of a curvilinear relation between measures of intimacy and measures of satisfaction. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Interpersonal Process Model of Intimacy: The Role of Self-Disclosure, Partner Disclosure, and Partner Responsiveness in Interactions Between Breast Cancer Patients and Their Partners.

This study evaluated H. Reis and P. Shaver's (1988) interpersonal process model of intimacy in a sample of 98 women with breast cancer and their partners. Couples engaged in two discussions and rated self- and partner disclosure, perceived partner responsiveness, and intimacy experienced. A mediational model was tested in which partner responsiveness mediated the association between disclosure and intimacy. For patients, perceived responsiveness partially mediated the association between partner disclosure and intimacy, but self-disclosure was not significantly associated with responsiveness or intimacy. For partners, perceived responsiveness mediated the association between self-disclosure and perceived partner disclosure and intimacy. For breast cancer patients, partner disclosure predicted patient feelings of intimacy, because this type of disclosure was associated with greater feelings of acceptance, understanding, and caring. These findings may have implications for interventions to improve relationship closeness among couples coping with breast cancer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Interpersonal Process Model of Intimacy in Marriage: A Daily-Diary and Multilevel Modeling Approach.

This study used daily reports of interactions in marriage to examine predictions from the conceptualization of intimacy as the outcome of an interpersonal process. Both partners of 96 married couples completed daily diaries assessing self-disclosure, partner disclosure, perceived partner responsiveness, and intimacy on each of 42 consecutive days. Multivariate multilevel modeling revealed that self-disclosure and partner disclosure both significantly and uniquely contributed to the contemporaneous prediction of intimacy. Perceived partner responsiveness partially mediated the effects of self-disclosure and partner disclosure on intimacy. Global marital satisfaction, relationship intimacy, and demand-withdraw communication were related to daily levels of intimacy. Implications for the importance of perceived partner responsiveness in the intimacy process for married partners are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Authenticity and positivity strivings in marriage and courtship.

Proposed that married persons would want their spouses to see them as they saw themselves but that dating persons would want their relationship partners to evaluate them favorably. A survey of 176 married and dating couples tested these predictions. Just as married persons were most intimate with spouses whose evaluations verified their self-views, dating persons were most intimate with partners who evaluated them favorably. For married people with negative self-views, then, intimacy increased as their spouses evaluated them more negatively. Marriage apparently precipitates a shift from a desire for positive evaluations to a desire for self-verifying evaluations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Not “capitalizing” on social capitalization interactions: The role of attachment insecurity.

Capitalization interactions, in which partners share positive events, typically produce positive relationship outcomes (Gable, Gonzaga, & Strachman, 2006). However, the limiting conditions of these interactions have not been examined. In this study, 101 dating couples discussed a positive event in the life of each partner. Ratings of perceived responsiveness were made by both the romantic partner who disclosed a positive event and his/her responding partner. Trained observers then rated each videotaped interaction. More avoidantly attached responders reported being and were rated by coders as less responsive, particularly if their disclosing partners were more anxiously attached. Avoidantly attached individuals also underestimated their partners' responsiveness relative to observer ratings. Anxious responders underestimated their own responsiveness when their disclosing partners were more avoidantly attached. These results indicate that insecurely attached individuals are relatively less likely to be responsive and to perceive responsiveness in capitalization interactions than are more securely attached individuals. This is especially true when highly anxious and highly avoidant individuals are relationship partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social dating goals in late adolescence: Implications for safer sexual activity.

This research examined 2 age-typical goals that adolescents may pursue in social dating (intimacy goals related to open communication and mutual dependence and identity goals related to self-reliance and self-exploration) and the implications of these different goal sets for responsiveness to educational and daily life situations. Education about safer sexual activity that emphasized interpersonal communication skills was more effective in increasing intentions regarding safer sex for adolescents with predominant intimacy goals in dating, whereas education that focused on technical skills was more effective for those with predominant identity goals. Adolescents were also less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior when they were in dating situations that encouraged goal-relevant activities for ensuring safer sex. Discussion focuses on the dynamics within the broader bidirectional fit between personal goals and situational affordances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Detecting the deceit of the motivated liar.

Hypothesized that senders who are highly motivated to lie successfully (vs those who are less highly motivated) would be more successful at controlling the verbal aspects of their communications but less successful at controlling the nonverbal aspects. In Study 1, 32 senders (16 male and 16 female undergraduates) randomly assigned to high vs low motivational conditions, answered 4 questions in front of 6 peers. They answered 2 of the questions truthfully and 2 deceptively. They were given time to plan in advance 1 truthful response and 1 deceptive response; the other responses were not planned. In Study 2, judges (64 undergraduates) rated the deceptiveness, spontaneity, and tenseness of the Study 1 messages in 1 of 4 conditions: verbal only, visual only, audio only (verbal plus vocal), and audiovisual. Consistent with the hypothesis, the lies of the highly motivated senders were less readily detected when only verbal cues were available but more readily detected in the conditions that included nonverbal cues. Lies that were planned were no more or less readily detected than lies that were not planned. However, planned responses—whether truthful or deceptive—were perceived as more deceptive, more tense, and less spontaneous by judges in both studies. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of peer model reponsiveness and length of induction procedure on hypnotic responsiveness.

Examined hypnotic responsiveness with 68 female undergraduates observing confederates who were employed as models to appear either responsive or unresponsive to the test suggestions of the Barber Suggestibility Scale. Ss received either brief or lengthy verbal induction procedures. It was predicted that (a) observation of responsive peer models would result in greater responsiveness on the part of S, and (b) receiving a longer verbal induction would also produce greater responsiveness. A strong positive relationship was found between model responsiveness and subsequent S responsiveness. The effect of induction length was nonsignificant and no interactions were observed. Results are discussed in terms of expectation and set on the part of Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intimacy as an interpersonal process: The importance of self-disclosure, partner disclosure, and perceived partner responsiveness in interpersonal exchanges.

H. T. Reis and P. Shaver's (1988) interpersonal process model of intimacy suggests that both self-disclosure and partner responsiveness contribute to the experience of intimacy in interactions. Two studies tested this model using an event-contingent diary methodology in which participants provided information immediately after their social interactions over 1 (Study 1) or 2 (Study 2) weeks. For each interaction, participants reported on their self-disclosures, partner disclosures, perceived partner responsiveness, and degree of intimacy experienced in the interaction. Overall, the findings strongly supported the conceptualization of intimacy as a combination of self-disclosure and partner disclosure at the level of individual interactions with partner responsiveness as a partial mediator in this process. Additionally, in Study 2, self-disclosure of emotion emerged as a more important predictor of intimacy than did self-disclosure of facts and information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived equity and intimacy in marriage

The extent to which perceived inequity is related to perceived marital intimacy was examined. Sixty-six couples married five years or less were randomly selected from marriage license records in a western rural community. Equity/inequity was assessed using the Walster global measure of equity. Levels of overall intimacy, conflict resolution, affection, cohesion, sexuality, identity, compatibility, autonomy, and expressiveness were measured using the Waring Intimacy Questionnaire (WIQ). Inequity was associated with lower levels of overall intimacy, compatibility, identity, and expressiveness among the wives. Among the husbands, inequity was not associated with any types of intimacy. When comparing husbands in inequitable relationships to wives in inequitable relationships, the wives reported lower scores for only one kind of intimacy--identity. Explanations and implications for marriage therapy are discussed.     

Self-disclosure, intimacy, and the depenetration process.

Examined the relation of intimacy and several self-disclosure variables within a framework of social penetration theory (I. Altman and D. A. Taylor, 1973). Data were collected by having 60 couples (aged 18–59 yrs) complete a questionnaire and by rating audiotapes of the couples discussing their relationships. Most of the couples were having relationship difficulties and were presumed to be in the depenetration process. The main hypothesis was that as intimacy decreased, self-disclosure breadth and depth would decline, and the valence of the self-disclosures would become more negative. The hypothesis was supported for breadth and valence. However, results opposite to the predictions were obtained for depth: Decreased intimacy was associated with increased depth. It is suggested that this latter result may reflect the tendency of couples who were most dissatisfied and least intimate to self-disclose their negative thoughts and feelings. Implications for the depenetration process are discussed. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Categorization and metaphor understanding.

S. Glucksberg and B. Keysar (see record 1990-14310-001) have proposed a class-inclusion model of metaphor comprehension. This theory suggests that metaphors are not understood as implicit similes but are seen as class-inclusion statements in which the topic of a metaphor is assigned to a diagnostic, ad hoc category, whereas the metaphor's vehicle is a prototypical member of that category. The author claims that verbal metaphors are not simply instantiations of temporary, ad hoc categories but reflect preexisting conceptual mappings in long-term memory that are metaphorically structured. Various evidence from cognitive linguistics, philosophy, and psychology are described in support of this claim. Evidence is also presented that supports, contrary to Glucksberg and Keysar's position, the role of tacit conceptual metaphors in the comprehension of verbal metaphors in discourse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The process of intimacy: similarity, understanding and gender

This study examined gender and three aspects of marital intimacy using a method to establish both objective and subjective indices of intimacy. Fifty couples answered the Personal Assessment of Intimate Relationships (Schaefer & Olson, 1981) twice: once as a self-report and once to respond as they predicted their spouses would answer. Couples who were less accurate in predicting each other's responses also diverged in their experience of intimacy and reported lower intimacy. Results suggest that high intimacy is based on both understanding and similarity of intimate experience. Women reported significantly higher levels of intimacy and were also better than men in predicting their partners' feelings. These findings suggest that women may be more attuned to intimacy or that definitions and assessment of intimacy are gender biased or both.     

Optimism in close relationships: How seeing things in a positive light makes them so.

Does expecting positive outcomes--especially in important life domains such as relationships--make these positive outcomes more likely? In a longitudinal study of dating couples, the authors tested whether optimists (who have a cognitive disposition to expect positive outcomes) and their romantic partners are more satisfied in their relationships, and if so, whether this is due to optimists perceiving greater support from their partners. In cross-sectional analyses, both optimists and their partners indicated greater relationship satisfaction, an effect that was mediated by optimists' greater perceived support. When the couples engaged in a conflict conversation, optimists and their partners saw each other as engaging more constructively during the conflict, which in turn led both partners to feel that the conflict was better resolved 1 week later. In a 1-year follow-up, men's optimism predicted relationship status. Effects of optimism were mediated by the optimists' perceived support, which appears to promote a variety of beneficial processes in romantic relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Barriers to effective cross-cultural counseling.

Many mental health professionals have noted that racial and ethnic factors may act as impediments to counseling. Misunderstandings that arise from cultural variations in verbal and nonverbal communication may lead to alienation and/or an inability to develop trust and rapport. An analysis of the generic characteristics of counseling reveals 3 variables that interact in such a way as to seriously hinder counseling with 3rd-world groups: (a) language variables—use of standard English and verbal communication; (b) class-bound values—strict adherence to time schedules, ambiguity, and seeking long-range solutions; and (c) culture-bound values—individual centered, verbal/emotional/behavioral expressiveness, client to counselor communication, openness and intimacy, cause–effect orientation, and mental and physical well-being distinction. These generic characteristics are contrasted with value systems of various ethnic groups. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Elicited effects of approval and disapproval: An examination of parameters having implications for counseling couples in conflict.

Explored the elicited effects of changes in approval and disapproval behaviors on the behaviors and perceived satisfaction of dating partners. 80 dating couples role-played conflict situations, and their behaviors were observed by trained raters. The couples periodically reported their perceptions of their behaviors. Four of the 5 hypotheses were substantiated. Disapproval was found to elicit strong reciprocal behavior and dissatisfaction. Approval eliciting effects occurred but were weaker. Male elicitors, in particular, felt less satisfied and less powerful. The potential implications of these results for behavioral treatment of couples are discussed. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of experiential and problem-solving interventions in resolving marital conflict.

Compared the relative effectiveness of 2 interventions in the treatment of marital discord: a cognitive-behavioral intervention that focused on teaching problem-solving skills and an experiential intervention that focused on emotional experiences underlying interaction patterns. 45 couples seeking therapy were randomly assigned to 1 of these treatments or to a wait-list control group. Each treatment was administered in 8 sessions by 6 experienced therapists whose interventions were monitored and rated to ensure treatment fidelity. Assessment measures included the Dyadic Adjustment Scale; Couples Therapy Alliance Scale; and tests of emotional style, target complaints, goal attainment, and intimacy. Results indicate that the perceived strength of the working alliance between couples and therapists and of general therapists effectiveness were equivalent across treatment groups and that both treatment groups made significant gains over untreated controls on measures of goal attainment, marital adjustment, intimacy levels, and target complaint reduction. The effects of the emotionally focused treatment were superior to those of the problem-solving treatment on marital adjustment, intimacy, and target complaint level. At follow-up, marital adjustment scores in the emotionally focused group were still significantly higher than those in the problem-solving group. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)