行为金融学与心理学

由于理性经济人假设与实际的偏差,经典现代金融学遇到了一些被称为“未解之谜”的现实问题。行为金融学是从人们的实际决策行为出发来研究和解释金融市场的相关问题。因此,心理学的研究成果就成为行为金融学研究必不可少的基础。与投资者信念、偏好以及决策相关的情感心理学、认知心理学和社会心理学的研究成果在行为金融学各领域得到了广泛的应用。金融学与心理学两个领域的密切合作将推动行为金融学的进一步发展。     

Couple therapy and the developmental phase of couple relations with students

The aim of this research project has been, in terms of couple evaluation and therapy, to study structural couplings between individual development and the epigenesis of couple relationships. The epigenesis of couple relations was studied according to the model developed by Wynne in which the epigenetic stages are attachment/ caregiving, communicating, joint problem-solving, mutuality, and intimacy. Attachment/caregiving is crucial for the success of couple therapy. The research on 57 couples makes possible a new paradigm for theoretically understanding interconnections between individual development and development of the couple relation; valuable information for planning integrated and need-specific treatment of the couple relation; and evaluation of the course and prognosis of couple relationship with student.This study was carried out at the Health Care Center for Students, in Turku, Finland, and was financially supported by the Pro Sanitate Studiosorum Institute, Helsinki, Finland. We have been in cooperation with and received invaluable constructive criticism from Lyman C. Wynne, MD, PhD, whose theoretical model we applied in this study. Ms. Birgitta Nolvi's secretarial work was greatly appreciated.     

Factorial and construct validity of the revised short form integrative psychotherapy alliance scales for family, couple, and individual therapy

The Integrative Psychotherapy Alliance model brought an interpersonal and systemic perspective to bear on theory, research, and practice on the psychotherapeutic alliance. Questions have been raised about the independence of the theoretical factors in the model and their operationalization in the Individual, Couple, and Family Therapy Alliance Scales. This paper presents results of a confirmatory factor analysis of the scales that delineated at least three distinct interpersonal factors as well as shorter versions of the three scales to facilitate their use in research and practice. The paper also presents the results of a study testing each factor's association with client retention and progress over the first eight sessions in individual and couple therapy. At least two of the interpersonal factors were uniquely associated with progress in individual and couple functioning. Implications of the results for theory, research, practice, and training in individual, couple, and family therapy are elaborated.     

Couple Therapy Research and the Practice of Couple Therapy: Can We Talk?

As has been true in every other realm of psychotherapy, couple therapy research generally has had very little impact on the day-to-day practice of couple therapists. To a significant degree, this unfortunate disconnection may be attributable to an overemphasis by researchers in the field on treatment packages and therapeutic methods/techniques. Insufficient attention has been paid to other important sources of influence on treatment outcomes, especially the couple therapist herself/himself. It is argued that effective couple therapy requires a good "fit" between the person of the therapist and her primary theoretical orientation, and that couple therapists may be more influenced by research that addresses process aspects of the therapeutic approaches to which they have their primary theoretical allegiances.     

Integrative approaches to couple therapy: implications for clinical practice and research

Although meta-analyses affirm that various treatments for couple distress produce statistically and clinically significant outcomes, research findings also indicate that a large percentage of couples fail to benefit or subsequently deteriorate following current therapies. Based on these findings, we advocate potential advantages of integrative approaches to couple therapy. We distinguish among assimilative, transtheoretical, and pluralistic approaches to integration and describe exemplars of each. Integrative approaches to couple therapy are compared to distillatory or common factors approaches emphasizing common elements of treatment components, therapist characteristics, and client or relationship attributes. We argue that clinical practice of integrative approaches to couple therapy requires conceptual and clinical decision-making skills transcending those of any one theoretical modality and emphasizing the selection, sequencing, and pacing of diverse interventions in a coherent manner. We conclude with implications of integrative couple-based treatments for future research.     

Love: an important dimension in marital research and therapy

How do men and women describe and assess their relationship? What themes are decisive for its quality and stability? To answer such questions, we investigated a random sample of 204 married couples (reference sample), and 31 married couples undergoing psychotherapy (clinical sample) using a newly developed questionnaire. The participating couples were asked to evaluate a total of 19 themes with respect to their importance for the couple's connectedness. Although only rarely directly addressed in couple therapy and in‐vestigated in couple research, the theme “Love” proved to be the decisive factor for quality and stability. The results of the present study, therefore, indicate that “Love” should be investigated more thoroughly in couple research and included more actively in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.     

"You" and "I," "us " and them: a systemic-discursive approach to the study of ethnic stereotypes in the context of British-Greek heterosexual couple relationships

Systemic family therapy accounts of ethnic stereotypes in the context of ethnically mixed couple relationships have tended to focus on the interpersonal-psychological realm of the couple relationship. Discourse analytic research, on the other hand, has highlighted the role of such stereotypes in the construction of national identity and has stressed the importance of a historical and ideological approach. In this article, we will present our attempt to develop a systemic-discursive approach to the study of stereotypes in the particular context of British-Greek heterosexual couple relationships by building on both fields.     

Common factors of change in couple therapy

Though it is clear from meta-analytic research that couple therapy works well, it is less clear how couple therapy works. Efforts to attribute change to the unique ingredients of a particular model have consistently turned up short, leading many researchers to suggest that change is due to common factors that run through different treatment approaches and settings. The purpose of this article is to provide an empirically based case for several common factors in couple therapy, and discuss clinical, training, and research implications for a common factors couple therapy paradigm. Critical distinctions between model-driven and common factors paradigms are also discussed, and a moderate common factors approach is proposed as a more useful alternative to an extreme common factors approach.     

Relational Expectancy Fulfillment as an Explanatory Variable for Distinguishing Couple Types

Previous research demonstrates that Traditional and Separate-Traditional (Mixed) couples report highest levels of marital satisfaction, followed by Independents and Separates (Fitzpatrick, 1988). This research project used an expectancy fulfillment framework to understand these differences in marital satisfaction across couple type. Focusing on relational expectations (Kelley & Burgoon, 1991) as critical variables to relational functioning, behavior-expectation discrepancy scores across 7 relational dimensions (intimacy, dominance, equality-trust, receptivity, distance, noncomposure-arousal, and informality) were examined by couple type. As predicted, Traditional couples generally reported more expectancy fulfillment and relational satisfaction than did other couple types, and Separates less. Only informality failed to distinguish between any 2 couple types. Interestingly, Traditionals experienced primarily positive expectancy violations, whereas Separates experienced more negative violations than did other couple types. Couples also differed as to what they considered a positive or negative violation. Both couple type and relational discrepancy scores were found to be important predictors of relational satisfaction.     

Hostile,volatile, avoiding,and validating couple‐conflict types: An investigation of Gottman's couple‐conflict types

Using two very different sets of survey data, we investigated Gottman's (1994a , 1999 ) observational findings regarding couple‐conflict types. We hypothesized that defensible couple‐conflict types could be established using survey data based on an individual's perception of the style he or she uses in couple‐conflict situations. Furthermore, we hypothesized that membership type would be related to relationship quality indicators such as satisfaction, stability, communication processes, and affect regulation. Our results showed that survey data can reliably produce couple‐conflict types similar to Gottman’s. We further found that, on satisfaction, stability, positive communication, and soothing, hostile couple‐conflict types had the lowest mean scores and validating couple‐conflict types the highest mean scores. The types related in the opposite manner to negative communication, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and flooding. The other couple‐conflict‐type means ‐ volatile and avoiding ‐ are almost always between the extreme means of the hostile and validating couple‐conflict types. Implications for research and practice conclude the article.     

Nonverbal Behavioral Indicators of Negative Affect in Couple Interaction

Affect has been identified across numerous research studies to be a vital element in understanding couple relationship processes. Affect has been shown to distinguish between satisfied and dissatisfied couples and to be important in understanding processes leading to relationship dissolution. However, research has not yet uncovered nonverbal indicators that a couple is experiencing negative affect compared to other affective states. In this study we sought to identify specific nonverbal behaviors associated with different affective states. Results suggested that differences in looking-behavior and smiling can be used to identify affect states during couple communication. We outline how the results can aid couples therapy interventions.     

Couple Therapy in the Presence of Mental Disorders

Abstract

Mental disorders and relationship discord commonly occur together and couples where one or both parties suffer from a mental disorder are commonly seen in couple therapy. Symptoms of mental disorders can usefully be conceptualized cybernetically and viewed as part of negative feedback loops that couples become trapped in without denying the potential contribution of biological or other types of knowledge. Most of the existing research focuses on couples and depression and couple therapy has been found to have efficaciousness as a treatment of depression especially when depression occurs along with relationship discord. There is less research on couple therapy and other mental disorders but general guidelines are offered that couple therapists can use with any of the mental disorders.     

Taking stock of the longitudinal study of romantic couple relationships: The last 20 years

Longitudinal dyadic research provides significant benefits for our understanding of romantic couple relationships. In this systematic review, we begin by providing a broad overview of topical trends and approaches in longitudinal couple relationships research from 2002 through 2021. Then, we narrow our review to dyadic relationship quality articles, highlighting key themes as well as noting important gaps in the research. Using an intersectional perspective that acknowledges multiple ways that disadvantage, power, and oppression may be seen in both research and in couples' lived experience, we note prominent paradigms used in examining couple relationships, what types of questions have been most valued, and what groups and approaches are underrepresented in the literature. Most longitudinal couple relationships research is quantitative, relies on self-report approaches from American couples in the early-to-middle years of their relationships, concentrates more on negative aspects of relationships than positives, and takes a communication-satisfaction paradigm in studying couples. We see a clear need to increase the use of methodologies beyond self-report measures, conduct more studies with within-group minority, older adult, culturally-diverse, and context-specific samples to explore the diversity of relationships, and fully consider both strengths and positive processes in relationships as well as the challenges couples experience.     

Assortative mating and couple similarity: Patterns,mechanisms, and consequences

Assortative mating refers to the tendency of two partners' characteristics to be matched in a systematic manner, usually in the form of similarity. Mating with a similar partner has profound implications at the species, societal, and individual levels. This article provides a comprehensive review of research on couple similarity since 1980s. The review begins with the general patterns and trends observed in couple similarity on a range of domains including demographic variables, physical/physiological characteristics, abilities, mental well‐being, habitual behaviors, attitudes, values, and personality. Next the bulk of the review focuses on analyses of 4 mechanisms leading to similarity: initial active choice, mating market operation, social homogamy, and convergence. Specific future research avenues are outlined to improve understanding of these mechanisms. Finally, the review discusses genetic, social, and psychological consequences of couple similarity.     

Effectiveness of Couple Therapy in Practice Settings and Identification of Potential Predictors for Different Outcomes

Even though couple therapy is efficacious, there is no improvement in up to 50% of the couples. Also effect sizes found in effectiveness studies in real-world settings are considerably lower than those found in efficacy studies. There is a need to understand more about couple therapy effectiveness in practice settings and the factors responsible for different outcomes. A German nationwide study on the effectiveness of couple counseling including 554 couples applied the same methodology as two earlier studies in the same field. A remarkable consistency was found over the three independent studies in the burden with individual and relationship distress as well as in the rates of improvement. This supports the insight that the improvements reached through couple therapy in practice settings are only about half of the effect sizes reached in efficacy trials. Additionally this study investigated 64 factors, which were found to be influential for relationship quality and stability in earlier studies, for their impact on outcome. Factors present at initiation and termination of therapy were found, which correlate significantly with outcome and with separation of the couple in the follow-up. These factors could be included in prediction models for improvement and separation of the couple. The implications for the practice of couple therapy and for future research are discussed.     

Response to Heather B. MacIntosh’s Systematic Review of Journal Articles in Psychoanalytic Couple Therapy

ABSTRACT

I review Heather B. MacIntosh’s research on couple therapy in the analytic literature and provide a history and geography of the development of object relations couple therapy.     

Attitudes Toward Voluntary and Involuntary Childlessness

Prior research has documented negative attitudes toward the voluntarily childless. Although research indicates that infertile couples perceive their condition to be discrediting, the extent to which the public considers involuntary childlessness as a negative attribute is unclear. Infertility might be construed by many to be a disease of professional couples overly concerned with careers or too stressed to conceive. In this experiment, 215 university students read one of six scenarios describing a couple as either: (a) voluntarily childless, involuntarily childless, or having children; or (b) holding professional or nonprofessional employment. Subjects rated each member of the couple on 26 characteristics (e.g., ambitious, caring, and stressed) and responded to 12 items concerning the quality and strength of the couple's relationship. Results support prior research demonstrating a stigma of voluntary childlessness but suggest that involuntary childlessness is not universally stigmatizing and may actually lead to some positive attributions. Recommendations for future research and applications are discussed.     

Relationship stigma and Black-White interracial marital satisfaction: the mediating role of religious/spiritual well-being

Although the percentage of Black-White interracial marriage continues to increase in the United States, research is limited related to the impact of stigma on these couples and the processes that influence their responses to negative racial experiences. In the current study, the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation model was used as a theoretical foundation to investigate the relationship between stigma and couple satisfaction among Black-White interracially married couples, along with the potential mediating role of religious/spiritual well-being. A community sample of 180 interracially married individuals responded to surveys assessing their experiences of stigma due to being a member of an interracial couple, religious/spiritual well-being, and couple satisfaction. The analysis revealed that relationship stigma was negatively associated with couple satisfaction, and religious/spiritual well-being mediated the relationship between these two variables. To conclude, recommendations for intervention and prevention in the lives of Black-White interracial couples are offered.     

Anxiety and chronic couple relationship stress moderate adrenocortical response to couple interaction in expectant parents

The study examines whether anxiety or chronic relationship stress alter the way that couple conflict affects cortisol levels for women and men during the transition to parenthood. Saliva samples, assayed for cortisol, were collected before and after couple interaction from 128 heterosexual couples expecting their first child. Confirming prior research, expectant mothers had higher cortisol levels than their spouses, and gestational age was linked to women's cortisol level. Negativity during couple interaction was associated with greater cortisol reactivity for men, but not women. Tests of moderation indicated little relation between negativity and cortisol recovery for individuals with a low level of anxiety or little history of chronic arguing with the partner. However, among individuals with elevated levels of either of these two factors, negativity was linked to less cortisol recovery for men, but more cortisol recovery for women. Consistent results were also found for the relation between low warmth in the couple interaction and both reactivity and recovery for men and women high in anxiety. Future research should examine whether pregnancy is responsible for these different gender patterns, or whether the inhibition of negativity is stressful for women with high levels of risk.