He said,she said: a quasi-signal detection analysis of daily interactions between close relationship partners

In everyday life, close relationship partners enact behaviors through which they may influence each other. To understand how these exchanges affect partners, previous research has emphasized the enactors' reports, the receivers' perceptions, or the congruence of the two. We developed a strategy based on classic signal detection theory that combined elements from these three approaches in a naturalistic daily experience study. Members of 58 heterosexual dating couples reported daily on their own behaviors and their perceptions of their partners' behaviors. Results showed that an enactor's beliefs about his or her behavior and the perceiver's interpretation combined to affect daily mood and relationship satisfaction. However, different patterns of results emerged for positive and negative behaviors, such that the enactor's perspective accounted for independent effects of negative behaviors. Results show the value of simultaneously considering the perspective of both parties in social interaction.     

Am “I” more important than “we”? Couples’ word use in instant messages

Recent studies have identified robust associations between the types of words that people use and their psychological health. This study investigated whether couples’ word use in their daily instant messages (IMs) is linked to the quality and stability of their relationships. Sixty‐eight dating couples in the United States submitted 10 days of IM conversations with each other, which were analyzed with a linguistic word count program. Six months later, couples indicated whether they were still dating. Pronoun use and emotion word use both were associated with relationship satisfaction and stability. These findings extend previous research showing that the frequencies of certain words that people use are associated with the quality of their social relationships.     

Interviews Exploring Emerging Adults’ Everyday Life Gender Norm Experiences,Media Gender Norm Perceptions,and Future Gender Norm Expectations

In a culture where media increasingly permeate everyday life experiences, this study explores where emerging adult interviewees acquire gender norm information and how this information is applied to future gender norm expectations. Qualitative research has considered emerging adults’ future life expectations; however, it has not concurrently explored everyday life gender norm experiences, media gender norm perceptions, and future gender norm expectations in family and career. This study’s 20 in-depth interviews (M age?=?19.05 years) with male and female undergraduate students were analyzed using grounded theory method (GTM). Findings revealed interviewees used everyday life gender norm experiences to support or challenge media gender norm perceptions. The majority of interviewees also perceived media undergoing a “shift” to mirror everyday life gender norm experiences. Additionally, interviewees often discussed childhood everyday life experiences rather than media perceptions when articulating future gender norm expectations. However, while most female interviewees expected to manage future household, childcare, and career responsibilities, male interviewees expected a 50/50 split, to take part in less childcare, and expected future partners to work, contributing to household finances. The discussion considers the ways the interviewees integrated everyday life and media gender norms in conversation, how they may use these realms to shape future expectations, and the consequences that might arise if these expectations are not met.

     

Demand and withdraw behaviors in couples with a history of infidelity

Although relationship distress and dissolution are common consequences of sexual involvement outside a committed relationship, there is little empirical information regarding communication behaviors of couples who have experienced extradyadic involvement (EDI). This study examined male and female demand and withdraw behaviors in videotaped conflict discussions among 170 married or seriously dating couples categorized into 3 groups: those without a history of sexual EDI, those with a history of sexual EDI that was known to the other partner, and those with a history of "unknown" (undisclosed or undiscovered) sexual EDI. Both men and women in a relationship where there was at least one unknown EDI demonstrated the highest levels of demand behaviors. Furthermore, demand behaviors were higher for participating partners (those engaging in an outside sexual relationship) in relationships with an unknown EDI compared with participating partners in relationships with a known EDI. Conversely, demand behaviors were higher among nonparticipating partners in relationships with known EDI, compared to with nonparticipating partners in relationships with unknown EDI. Withdraw behaviors demonstrated a less pronounced and less consistent pattern of elevation by EDI group, and role within EDI, compared with demand behaviors. Clinical and relational implications for these findings are discussed.     

Communication and social skills in socially anxious and nonanxious individuals in the context of romantic relationships

This study examined differences between socially anxious and nonanxious individuals' ability to use effective communication skills and social skills in the context of romantic relationships. Socially anxious (n = 13) and nonanxious (n = 14) individuals and their romantic partners were videotaped while participating in 10-minute neutral, negative, and pleasant conversations. Regardless of the type of conversation in which they were involved, socially anxious individuals demonstrated impairment in 10 of the 11 social skill variables assessed. In negative conversations, socially anxious individuals displayed more "very negative" behaviors than nonanxious individuals, and across all conversations they displayed fewer "positive" behaviors than nonanxious individuals. Partners of socially anxious and nonanxious individuals did not differ in their communication quality. The results suggest that social anxiety is associated with deficits in relationship maintenance behavior and call for the completion of a larger study examining the interpersonal consequences of social anxiety.     

Attachment style,communication patterns,and satisfaction across the life cycle of marriage

Questionnaire measures of attachment, communication patterns, and relationship satisfaction were administered to 361 married couples, sampled across the life cycle of marriage. Individuals who were secure in attachment (defined in terms of comfort with closeness and low anxiety over relationships) tended to be paired with secure spouses. Security of attachment was associated with one's own relationship satisfaction, although husbands' satisfaction was related primarily to the anxiety dimension. The most consistent effect of partners' attachment was an inverse relationship between wives' anxiety and husbands' satisfaction. The negative effect of wives' anxiety on perceived relationship satisfaction (for both partners) was evident primarily for couples in which husbands were uncomfortable with closeness. The association between attachment dimensions and relationship satisfaction was largely mediated by communication patterns for wives, but only partially mediated by communication patterns for husbands; for both husbands and wives, a measure of mutually constructive communication emerged as the strongest correlate of satisfaction. These findings were generally consistent across the life cycle of marriage, and they are important in clarifying the nature of the link between attachment and satisfaction in a broad sample.     

Relationships Between Social Support,Internal Assets,and Life Satisfaction in Korean Adolescents

In previous literature, social support has been reported to have a significant, positive relationship with life satisfaction. However, few studies have examined this relationship among Korean youths and how their psychological functioning is associated with both social support and life satisfaction. This study investigated the associations between different sources of social support (i.e., family, peer, and teacher), psychological factors (i.e., self-efficacy and emotional regulation), and life satisfaction, in a sample of 1133 Korean adolescents. The possibility of sex differences in these relationships was also investigated. Results indicated that only family support had a direct relationship with life satisfaction for male adolescents; however, all three types of social support were found to have a significant, indirect relationship with life satisfaction for male adolescents through both psychological factors. In contrast, all three types of social support had a direct relationship with life satisfaction of female adolescents. Additionally, self-efficacy had a mediating effect on the relationship between the social support from family and teachers and life satisfaction of female adolescents. The results and implications of the study are discussed.     

伴侣低头行为的影响及其心理机制

低头行为指的是线下社会互动时个体因使用手机而冷落社交对象的行为。目前关于低头行为研究最多的是伴侣低头行为。文章在剖析伴侣低头行为内涵之外,分析了伴侣低头行为带来的影响,并从期望违背理论、社会交换理论和相互依赖理论三个视角阐释伴侣低头行为发生的理论机制。总体上,基于现有研究我们认为未来可以从深化作用机制和探索跨关系研究（亲密关系—亲子关系）两个方面进行伴侣低头行为对亲密关系的研究。     

The Development and Sex-Related Use of Interruption Behavior

In this article the authors argue that claims of sex differences in interruption behavior should not be uncritically accepted as there are limitations in previous research that make such acceptance questionable. The frequency of interruption was examined over a portion of the early life span (Grades 4 and 9 and college). Twenty-minute structured conversations of 90 dyads (30 male, 30 female, and 30 mixed sex) were scored for four types of interruption, and both developmental and sex differences in interruption behavior were examined. Interruption frequency did not change over age or across dyads of different sex composition. Males did not interrupt any more than females did and females were interrupted by their partners as frequently as males were interrupted by theirs, with one exception: Grade 9females were interrupted more by their female partners. Interruptions were asymmetrically distributed in same-sex and opposite-sex dyads; however, the asymmetry in opposite-sex dyads was not predictablefrom sex of subject or sex of partner. That is, males did not interrupt females any more than females interrupted males. The authors conclude that wholesale acceptance of sex differences in interruption behavior is not warranted.     

Communication with former romantic partners and current relationship outcomes among college students

This research investigates individual and contextual differences underlying postdissolution friendships by considering communication with former romantic partners among individuals in new romantic relationships. Two studies demonstrate the prevalence, determinants, and implications of former partner communication for the current relationship. Study 1 showed that approximately 40% of individuals in relationships communicate with a former partner and highlighted differences between those who communicate and those who do not. Study 2 factor analyzed reasons why people communicate with former partners and examined how the reasons are differentially associated with current relationship functioning. In general, results support the notion that under certain circumstances and for certain individuals, communication with former partners can have deleterious influences on one's current relationship.     

Exploration of Male Attitudes on Partnerships and Sexuality with Female <Emphasis Type="Italic">BRCA1/2</Emphasis> Mutation Carriers

Women with BRCA mutations are inundated with decisions about managing cancer risks and childbearing considerations. Decisions become more complicated when women face disclosing their mutation and risk-reduction options to a romantic partner. This study identifies the concerns and perspectives of male romantic partners regarding these unique decisions. Twenty-five male participants completed an online survey posted to cancer support group message boards. Participants reported relationship changes regarding intimacy levels (n?=?9), attraction (n?=?2), and communication (n?=?22) after mutation disclosure. Participants whose partners had not undergone prophylactic mastectomy (n?=?14) reported concerns regarding sexual relations (n?=?5), post-surgical appearance (n?=?2), post-surgical attraction (n?=?5), and health/lifespan (n?=?9). Participants did not express attitude changes toward childbearing. While mutation disclosure conversations and surgical options are concerns for many BRCA mutation carriers in relationships, male partners share these concerns. Aspects of the relationship may change, but male study participants continued to support their partners. This information can benefit female BRCA mutation carriers, their current or future partners, and genetic counselors working with this particular population.     

Communication,conflict, and commitment: insights on the foundations of relationship success from a national survey

The key relationship dynamics of communication, conflict, and commitment were investigated using data from a randomly sampled, nationwide phone survey of adults in married, engaged, and cohabiting relationships. Findings on communication and conflict generally replicated those of studies using more indepth or objective measurement strategies. Negative interaction between partners was negatively associated with numerous measures of relationship quality and positively correlated with divorce potential (thinking or talking about divorce). Withdrawal during conflict by either or both partners, though quite common, was associated with more negativity and less positive connection in relationships. The most frequently reported issue that couples argue about in first marriages was money, and in re-marriages it was conflict about children. Overall, how couples argue was more related to divorce potential than was what they argue about, although couples who argue most about money tended to have higher levels of negative communication and conflict than other couples. Further, while the male divorce potential was more strongly linked to levels of negative interaction, the female was more strongly linked to lower positive connection in the relationship. Consistent with the commitment literature, higher reported commitment was associated with less alternative monitoring, less feeling trapped in the relationship, and greater relationship satisfaction.     

Communication Between Spouses as a Resilience Factor in Families in Which a Parent Has Depression: A Condensed Report

This study focused on communication as a family resilience factor in families in which an adult suffers from a depressive disorder. Six partners of depressive adults were interviewed. Results revealed two groups of couples. The “talkative couples” have many conversations during the depression and a facilitating factor was having insight into the depression. The other group, the “taciturn couples,” indicated large difficulties in having conversations, resulting in silence being the dominant contact between the partners. The majority of the participants stated that the absence of conversation would have meant the end of their relationship.     

Division of labor in conversations: Are Fishman's results replicable and generalizable?

Fishman's (1978a) conclusion that women do the bulk of the support work in their conversations with male partners has had widespread appeal. In this article, we present the results of two studies designed to assess the generalizability and replicability of her findings. In Study 1. the get-acquainted conversations of 20 mixed-sex, 10 male same-sex, and 10 female same-sex dyads were analyzed for the support strategies identified by Fishman. No support for a sexual division of labor was found. In Study 2, we analyzed the casual, at-home conversations of 17 intimate male-female couples. Again, we found no evidence that the women used more of the support strategies than their male partners. Rather, our findings suggest that the women may have helped to sustain the conversations with their male partners simply by talking more. The appeal of Fishman's conclusions in the absence of empirical evidence suggests that she has touched on a mythic truth.This article is based on a Master's thesis by the second author (Study 1) and an Honour's thesis by the third author (Study 2) under the supervision of the first author.     

Distress in spouses of Vietnam veterans: associations with communication about deployment experiences

Emerging literature shows a consistent pattern of relationship and psychological distress in spouses or partners of combat veterans with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One possible mechanism of partners' distress posited in clinical literature is that excessive discussion of traumatic events from deployment may have negative effects on partners. At the extreme, some partners are suggested to develop PTSD-like symptoms, or secondary traumatic stress. Despite these hypotheses, there have been few empirical tests of the effects of communicating about such events. In a sample of 465 combat veterans and their spouses who participated in the Family Interview Component of the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, we explored how the extent of couples' deployment-related communication was associated with partner relationships and psychological distress, and whether such associations were moderated by the severity of veterans' PTSD symptoms. Results showed that Vietnam-specific communication correlated negatively with relationship distress, but the effect was negligible after controlling for overall communication in the relationship. On the other hand, Vietnam-specific communication did not correlate with psychological distress, but the association was significantly moderated by veterans' PTSD symptom severity. Specifically, communication about Vietnam was increasingly and positively associated with partners' psychological distress as veterans' symptoms of PTSD rose into the clinical range, but nonsignificantly and negatively associated with such distress as PTSD symptoms decreased below this level. The findings support previous clinical recommendations that couples' discussions of potentially traumatic events be approached cautiously, and they suggest a need to attend to the content of couples' communications when conducting dyadic interventions for PTSD.     

Partnerschaften von Sexualstraftätern

Intimate relationships of convicted and released sexual offenders have hardly been the topic of systematic research. This article presents a systematic review of this topic. Only nine articles were found in a systematic literature search which investigated this topic with qualitative and quantitative methods. These studies were dominated by the determination of multiple deficits in the sexual offenders, such as intimacy and empathy problems, high frequencies of conflicts and aggression in the relationships as well as social isolation of the female partners. The female partners of sexual offenders also showed a high tendency to denial and minimization similar to the offenders and blamed the victims for the offence. The women seemed to like their status as a “martyred wife” and gave their husbands a “second chance in life”. However, the currently available studies have barely investigated the “sexual offender couple” and the dynamics of their relationship to elucidate stabilizing factors. In a pilot study on the topic of “partnerships of sexual offenders” 17 “sex offender couples” were questioned by interviews and questionnaires to collate the dynamics of the partnership, which was published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy. In the quantitative results it was found that the female partners of sex offenders predominantly demonstrated an insecure preoccupied attachment style and this influence on the relationship stability is discussed. Further studies are needed in this field of research to gain detailed data of “sex offender couples” for relapse prevention and therapeutic implications.     

Correlates of parent–child communication about specific sexual topics: A study of rural parents with school-aged children

Using data from 600 parents of children aged 5 to 18, and a context-oriented, developmental socialization conceptual framework, the interrelationships between parents' perceptions of themselves, their child, and their family relationships and the amount of parent–child discussion of 16 sexuality topics were explored. Canonical correlation analysis was used to demonstrate how circumstances and contexts influence the complexity of parent–child conversations for mother–daughter, mother–son, father–son, and father–daughter dyads. Results lend support to the conceptual framework used, as well as to previous studies of this topic area. The implications of these findings for parent–child relationships and for future research on parent–child communication about sexuality are discussed.     

Seeing bad does good: Relational benefits of accuracy regarding partners’ negative moods

When would greater empathic accuracy (EA) be an asset and when would it not? In two studies of romantic couples (both employing daily diaries, the second also involving a lab-based video-recall paradigm), we explored the associations between EA (at the day-level, person-level, and in the lab) and an important relationship outcome: negative relationship feelings. Our results show that accuracy is tied more strongly to this relational outcome when negative (vs. positive) moods are the target of empathic judgments. The association between accuracy and (better) feelings was true for both perceivers and targets. Importantly, these associations emerged only in diary-based accuracy scores, and not in the lab-based ones. These results further support the importance of everyday empathic accuracy. They also highlight the need to consider such accuracy as multi-faceted, and in particular, to recognize the differential role of attending to our partners’ negative versus positive moods in daily life.     

The Influence of Early Experiences and Adult Attachment on the Exhibition of the Sexual Double Standard

The sexual double standard is the phenomenon whereby men and women are judged differently for the same sexual behavior. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the potential relationship between life history theory, attachment theory and the sexual double standard. Life history theory posits that one’s upbringing (e.g., quality of early relationship with one’s parents) may have implications for one’s future mating strategies, especially for women. Furthermore, adult attachment orientation often influences individuals’ feelings toward sexual behavior. To address the relationship between these variables, we had participants complete questionnaires regarding their early relationships with their parents and their current attachment regarding romantic partners. Participants then evaluated a target individual who reported having 1 or 12 sexual partners (N = 154). Results showed that female participants’ early relationships with their parents and their current attachment avoidance predicted their exhibition of the double standard. Results are discussed in the context of theoretical and empirical implications.