Affective Traits, Responses to Conflict, and Satisfaction in Romantic Relationships

Participants described their current and past romantic relationships on a variety of measures, as well as their typical behavioral responses to conflict in intimate relationships. Consistent with studies of initial social encounters, participants who were high in trait positive affect (PA) described their current relationships as being of higher quality than did low PA individuals. Participants who were high in PA were also more likely to currently be in a relationship than were other people. Negative affect emerged as a predictor of the amount of conflict that characterized people's past romantic relationships. Analyses further revealed that the link between PA and relationship quality was mediated by high PA individuals' reluctance to engage in active destructive responses and propensity to engage in active, constructive responses to conflict with their partner.     

The Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP): temporal stability and predictive validity of the diagnostic scales

The authors investigated the test-retest reliability and predictive validity of the diagnostic scales from the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP). Participants were identified from a sample of 240 undergraduates who completed the SNAP and the Social Adjustment Scale (SAS-SR) at Time 1. The authors selected 50 people who met criteria for a personality disorder (PD) based on the SNAP and 50 who did not qualify for a diagnosis. Eighty-three of these people completed the SNAP and the SAS-SR for a second time approximately 9 months after initial screening. SNAP PD scales were relatively stable over time. Test-retest correlation coefficients ranged from .58 to .81. Scores on diagnostic scales for paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal PD were inversely related to self-reported levels of adjustment for social roles concerned with work as a student, leisure activities, and relationships with family. The results provide some evidence for the validity of the SNAP     

The Devaluation of Relationships (not Individuals): The Case of Dyadic Relationship Stigmatization

This study addresses how people devalue romantic relationships without devaluing the individuals in the relationship. We examined perceptions of condom use in close relationships in 3 studies. Relationships of couples who used condoms were devalued, relative to relationships of those who used oral contraceptives. However, the perceptions of individuals in the relationships were unchanged by type of birth-control use. In 2 studies, the dyadic devaluation concept was extended to relationships in which one partner was significantly older than the other. Participants believed that relationships in which the woman was substantially older than the man were of lesser quality than relationships in which the man and woman were the same age. Implications for stigma and person perception research are discussed.     

Adolescents on the net: Internet use and well-being

With the growing popularity of Internet communication applications among adolescents, the Internet has become an important social context for their development. This paper examined the relationship between adolescent online activity and well-being. Participants included 156 adolescents between 15 to 18.4 years of age who were surveyed about their access to and use of the Internet. Participants also completed measures of loneliness and perceived social support. An ANOVA suggested that loneliness was not related to the total time spent online, nor to the time spent on e-mail, but was related to participants' gender. Regression analyses suggested that gender and participants' perceptions regarding their online relationships were the only variables that predicted loneliness. Adolescents who felt that their relationship with online partners was one that they could turn to in times of need were more lonely. However, perceived support from significant others was not related to time spent online, time on e-mail, participants' relationships with online partners, and to their perceptions about these relationships. The implications of our results for researchers, parents, and other lay persons are discussed.     

The prediction of stress by values and value conflict

The authors investigated the relationships among stress, values, and value conflict. Data collected from 400 people working in a variety of companies in Flanders indicated that the values of openness to change, conservation, self-transcendence, and self-enhancement were important predictors of stress. Participants open to change reported less stress, whereas participants who had high scores on conservation, self-enhancement, and self-transcendence perceived more stress. People who reported high value conflict also experienced more stress. Separate analyses for men and women showed that there were gender differences in the relationships observed between the 4 value types and stress. These data have noteworthy theoretical and practical implications.     

Psychometric properties of Yelland and Tiggemann's Drive for Muscularity Scale

The purpose of the current study was to examine the dimensionality and validity of Yelland and Tiggemann's Drive for Muscularity Scale (YT-DMS). Participants were college students (305 women, M(AGE)=20.15 years, SD=4.00; 356 men, M(AGE)=20.24 years, SD=3.85) who completed the YT-DMS, the Drive for Muscularity Attitudes Questionnaire, the Drive for Leanness Scale, the Drive for Thinness Scale, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Results indicated the YT-DMS had a stable unidimensional factor structure in both genders, and the pattern of relationships generally supported the measure's criterion and construct validity. These results reveal the YT-DMS has promise, but helps identify possible areas for improvement, such as a greater focus on sampling the content domain associated with the drive for muscularity.     

Responses to comparisons in romantic relationships: Empathy,shared fate,and contrast

Individuals who empathize and share outcomes with their partner are likely to react more positively to upward comparisons (UCs) than downward comparisons (DCs). Three studies examined responses to comparisons in romantic relationships. Participants reported more positive affect following UCs than DCs; positive affect was also predicted by empathy and shared outcomes. Relationship‐maintaining responses were predicted by empathy and shared outcomes: Participants who felt boosted by sharing their partner's success were less likely to report distancing themselves from the partner following UCs, and participants who felt concern for their partner's failure were especially likely to help the partner following DCs. Our findings suggest that individuals respond functionally to these comparisons by focusing on protecting the relationship rather than protecting the self.     

Trust in the medical profession and patient attachment style

Attachment style is a person’s approach to interpersonal relationships, which develops from early experiences with primary caregivers and can remain stable into adulthood. Depending on a person’s attachment style, the amount of trust one has in others can vary when forming relationships, and trust is important in formation of the patient–physician relationship. The purpose of this study was to see if there is an association between attachment style and trust in physicians in general. Participants were recruited from an emergency department (ED) and an online university participant pool, and completed short questionnaires assessing attachment style and trust in the medical profession. Results revealed that individuals with a fearful attachment style reported significantly lower levels of trust in the medical profession than those with a secure attachment style. ED participants also reported higher levels of trust in the medical profession in comparison to student participants. This study provides a better understanding of trust in the medical profession, and insight into future care for patients who have low trust.     

Interracial roommate relationships: an experimental field test of the contact hypothesis

ABSTRACT— This study investigated how automatically activated racial attitudes are affected by relatively long-term interracial relationships. A natural field experiment was conducted in a college dormitory system. Participants were White freshmen who had been randomly assigned to either a White or an African American roommate. Students participated in two sessions during the first 2 and last 2 weeks of their first quarter on campus. During these sessions, they answered questions about their satisfaction and involvement with their roommates and completed an inventory of intergroup anxiety and an implicit measure of racial attitudes. Participants in interracial rooms reported less satisfaction and less involvement with their roommates than did participants in same-race rooms. However, automatically activated racial attitudes and intergroup anxiety improved over time among students in interracial rooms, but not among students in same-race rooms. Thus, the results suggest that interracial roommate relationships, although generally less satisfying and involving than same-race roommate relationships, do produce benefits.     

Perceptions of the social and personal characteristics of hypermuscular women and of the men who love them

A predominately European American sample of middle class college students rated hypermuscular female bodybuilders and the men who were romantically involved with them on measures of perceived gender traits, personality traits, social behaviors, and heterosexual behaviors. Participants perceived hypermuscular women, as compared to the average woman, as having more masculine and fewer feminine interests, less likely to be good mothers, and less intelligent, socially popular, and attractive. However, participants also perceived them as being less likely to engage in socially deviant behaviors or to be sexually manipulative and more likely to be extraverted, conscientious, and open to new experiences than the average woman. Participants perceived men who are romantically involved with hypermuscular women as having stronger masculine traits, interests, and identities than the average man. The authors found no relationships between the perceiver's gender type and his or her perceptions of hypermuscular women or the men who were romantically involved with them.     

Humor use in romantic relationships: the effects of relationship satisfaction and pleasant versus conflict situations

In this study, the authors explored the use of positive, negative, and avoiding humor in 2 types of situations by individuals in romantic relationships. Participants (N = 154) rated their frequency of humor use in either a typical conflict scenario with their partner or a typical pleasant event. Participants also indicated their overall degree of romantic relationship satisfaction. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that individuals who were more satisfied with their relationship reported higher levels of positive humor use and lower levels of negative and avoiding humor use. Furthermore, lower levels of negative and avoiding humor use were reported for the conflict situation. Last, a significant 2-way interaction revealed that individuals who were high in relationship satisfaction reported significantly lower levels of negative humor use in a conflict situation as compared with a pleasant encounter. In contrast, individuals who were low in relationship satisfaction reported the same high levels of negative humor use regardless of whether they were in a conflict situation or a pleasant encounter. The authors discuss these findings in terms of the need for further research to clearly delineate the factors that may influence the complex use of humor in romantic relationships.     

Multiple Roles of Married Korean Women: Effect on Depression

This study was designed to examine relationships between roles of employed married women in Seoul, South Korea, perceptions of their work role, coping patterns, and levels of depression. The convenience sample contained 382 women, aged 25–55 years, who were living with their husbands and working at least 20 hr weekly. Participants completed five questionnaires: demographic, Center for Epidemiological Studies—Depression Scale, Index of Sex-Role Orientation, Role Sharing, and Coping Strategies. Multiple regression analysis revealed several statistically significant relationships. Higher levels of depression were found in women who perceived motherhood and career roles as incompatible, those who coped by working harder, and those who spent less time helping children with homework. Women who owned their houses had lower levels of depression.     

Influences of character-based coping style on psychological health

This study explores the moderating effects of early adult character style on correlations between social relationships in adolescence and midlife psychological health. Participants were drawn from the ongoing longitudinal studies at the Institute of Human Development. Individuals who beat the odds of an adverse environment and those who failed to capitalize on beneficial environments were identified and compared at age 30 on the California Psychological Inventory, the Meredith-Millsap Component Scores, and the Thematic Apperception Test. Social relatedness and personal independence were characteristics at age 30 of all subjects who went on to develop good psychological health by age 50. Social relatedness was more associated with overcoming a difficult environment, while self-assurance was more associated with capitalizing on a good one.     

When is being known or adored by romantic partners most beneficial? Self-perceptions, relationship length, and responses to partner's verifying and enhancing appraisals

An experiment tested the hypothesis that relationship length moderates preferences for both verifying and enhancing appraisals from romantic partners, particularly for people with negative self-perceptions. One hundred and three romantically involved couples participated in this research. Participants with both negative and positive self-perceptions were randomly assigned to receive either verifying or enhancing feedback ostensibly created through comparison of their self-ratings and their partner's appraisals. The critical test was for those with negative self-ratings who received verifying feedback. For these participants, results revealed that those in longer relationships felt their partners were seeing the best in them more than did those in shorter relationships, whereas the opposite pattern of results was observed for those who were enhanced. Individuals with negative self-ratings who were verified also reported greater feelings of intimacy in the relationship when in long-term relationships. The importance of relationship length in moderating responses to partner's appraisals is discussed.     

The causal effects of extraversion on positive affect and neuroticism on negative affect: Manipulating state extraversion and state neuroticism in an experimental approach

Although the relationships between extraversion and positive affect and between neuroticism and negative affect are powerful, the patterns of causality accounting for them are unknown. We employed an experimental methodology to manipulate state extraversion and state neuroticism to determine their causal status. In Experiment 1, state extraversion was manipulated by instructing participants to act extraverted and introverted during two different discussions with two other participants. Participants reported more positive affect when instructed to act extraverted than when instructed to act introverted, and this finding was supported by the ratings of observers. In Experiment 2, state neuroticism was manipulated by instructing participants to act neurotic and emotionally stable during two different discussions. Participants reported more negative affect when instructed to act neurotic than when instructed to act stable. Thus, at least some part of the extraversion-positive affect and neuroticism-negative affect relationships may be accounted for by the causal influences of extraverted behavior and neurotic behavior, respectively.     

Connecting the intrapersonal to the interpersonal: Autonomy,voice, parents,and romantic relationships in emerging adulthood

Multiple forms of adolescent autonomy (emotional autonomy, voice, and cognitive autonomy) were examined as correlates of parental and partner relationships. Measures included parental warmth and psychological control, and romantic support and negative interactions. Participants were 206 students (age 17 to 20, M _age = 18) who had romantic partners. Those who reported more emotional autonomy from parents (e.g., individuation and nondependence) reported less voice with parents and less cognitive autonomy. Adolescents reported less independence from their parents, more voice with parents and more confidence in their own choices when they reported more parental warmth. Adolescents reported less independence from their parents and less voice when their parents were more controlling. Participants reported more independence from parents and more voice when they reported more romantic partner support. The results show how necessary it is to consider multiple aspects of autonomy and relationships to understand how the intrapersonal and interpersonal are connected.     

Perceived versus reported social referent approval and romantic relationship commitment and persistence

The current study examined social network influence processes on romantic relationship outcomes by obtaining the reported opinions of social referents as well as romantic relationship members’ perceptions of social network members’ opinions. Participants were 254 (151 women) college students from the United States involved in romantic relationships along with a male and female friend who all completed surveys regarding the participants’ romantic relationship. This work demonstrated that perceived normative beliefs of social network members significantly mediated the effects of reported social network approval on relationship commitment. Participants’ reports of relationship commitment were found to mediate the effect of subjective norms on relationship persistence. Along with network members’ relationship approval, participants’ satisfaction was found to predict participants’ normative beliefs.     

Predicting Women's Intentions to Leave Abusive Relationships: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior1

A theoretically derived decision‐making model was applied to predict women's intentions to remain in or to terminate physically abusive relationships with male partners. Participants were 48 women residing in a shelter for battered women who responded to questionnaires assessing the components of the theory of planned behavior. Data provided support for the model. Specifically, women were found to have greater intentions to leave the relationships if they held positive attitudes toward leaving and believed they were in control of leaving the relationship. Normative beliefs were not predictive of intentions to leave. Empirically based suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of interventions are discussed.     

Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Perceived Relationship Safety as Predictors of Dyadic Adjustment: A Test of Mediation and Moderation

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive value of PTSD symptoms and perceived relationship safety on dyadic adjustment. Participants included 390 individuals who were in a committed romantic relationship. Data were gathered from two populations; clients of a university-based family therapy clinic (n = 132), and community respondents to an announcement on a large university's electronic bulletin board (n = 258). Structural equation modeling was used to test a model of mediation, as well as multiple group analysis to test for moderation by setting (clinical vs. community) and gender. Results indicated that perceived relationship safety fully mediated the relationship between PTSD symptoms and dyadic adjustment. Gender moderated the relationships in the model, but no differences were found between the clinical and community samples. Findings suggest the importance of addressing experiences of safety and security in relationships, as these may be of particular importance for those who have experienced trauma.     

Sex differences in relationships among anger, depression, and coping strategies of Japanese students

This study investigated sex differences in the relationships among an ger, depression, and coping strategies. Undergraduate students, 77 men and 130 women, 3 not identified by sex, voluntarily participated. Participants made ratings on a self-report about anger, depression, coping strategies, and mental health. Analyses showed that women who reported themselves as angry tended to cope with stress by optimistic and active strategies, while women who reported themselves as depressed tended to cope with stress by withdrawn and passive strategies. Men who reported being depressed tended to select emotion-focused cognitive coping, while men who reported being angry selected no specific coping. Adoption of engaged emotion focused coping strategies were related to mental health only for women.