EVENTS THAT INCREASE UNCERTAINTY IN PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS SALLY PLANALP

Although communication and uncertainty reduction are almost thought to go hand-in-hand, it is possible for communication to increase uncertainty if new information is inconsistent with prior knowledge and undermines it. As an initial step toward understanding the neglected side of uncertainty, reports were gathered on types of events that increase uncertainty in interpersonal relationships, their emotional and cognitive impact, the uses of communication in dealing with them, and their effects on the relationship. Results indicated that almost everyone could remember experiencing such an event, that there were six major types, and that the impact on emotions, beliefs about the other person and the relationship were very strong. The majority of relationships were terminated or became less close as a result of the event but many were unaffected or became closer, depending on communicative, cognitive, and emotional variables. The findings have important implications for studying communication in relational dissolution and the accommodation of social knowledge to inconsistent information.     

Coupling Longitudinal Data and Multilevel Modeling to Examine the Antecedents and Consequences of Jealousy Experiences in Romantic Relationships: A Test of the Relational Turbulence Model

We used longitudinal data and multilevel modeling to examine how intimacy, relational uncertainty, and failed attempts at interdependence influence emotional, cognitive, and communicative responses to romantic jealousy, and how those experiences shape subsequent relationship characteristics. The relational turbulence model ( Solomon & Knobloch, 2004 ) highlights how intimacy, relational uncertainty, and interference from partners influence and reflect reactions to events that occur within romantic relationships. Drawing from the theory, we predicted that (a) relational uncertainty and interference from partners are positively associated with cognitive and emotional jealousies; (b) the intensity of romantic jealousy, relational intimacy, and a partner’s interference is positively associated with the directness of communication about jealousy; (c) relational uncertainty is negatively associated with communicative directness; and (d) cognitive jealousy, emotional jealousy, and the directness of communicative responses to jealousy influence subsequent relationship characteristics. The results of the multilevel modeling revealed mixed support for our predictions. We explore the implications of this study for research on the relational turbulence model, relationship development, and jealousy.     

Intimacy and the magnitude and experience of episodic relational uncertainty within romantic relationships

This paper seeks to clarify the association between the intimacy and the magnitude of relational uncertainty generated by specific events within romantic relationships. More specifically, we suggest that episodic relational uncertainty peaks at moderate levels of intimacy. We conducted a cross–sectional study in which 328 romantic relationship participants reported their reactions to a hypothetical relational uncertainty increasing event. Although the effect size was small, findings documented a curvilinear association between intimacy and episodic relational uncertainty. Further, hierarchical regression results supported our predictions about the effects of intimacy and episodic relational uncertainty on people’s reactions to the events. We discuss the implications of our findings for understanding the roles of both intimacy and episodic relational uncertainty within romantic relationships.     

Relational Uncertainty and Message Production Within Courtship: Features of Date Request Messages

This paper theorizes about how relational uncertainty may predict features of date request messages within courtship. It reports a study in which 248 individuals role‐played leaving a date request voice mail message for their partner. Relational uncertainty was negatively associated with the fluency (H1), affiliativeness (H2), relationship focus (H3), explicitness (H4), and perceived effectiveness (H5) of messages. Also as expected, relational uncertainty was negatively associated with people’s perceptions of the effectiveness of their messages after covarying the judgments of independent observers (H6). Relational uncertainty continued to predict features of messages when length of romantic interest was covaried (RQ1). The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the results for understanding the link between relational uncertainty and message production.     

Relational Turbulence Theory: Explaining Variation in Subjective Experiences and Communication Within Romantic Relationships

This essay extends the relational turbulence model as a framework for understanding communication in romantic relationships. Following the relational turbulence model, relational turbulence theory identifies relational uncertainty and interdependence as parameters that shape subjective experiences, but the theory clarifies the theoretical processes underlying their distinctive effects. In addition, relational turbulence theory articulates causal processes linking cognitive appraisals and emotions to communication. Relational turbulence theory also describes how episodes characterized by biased appraisals, intense emotions, and volatile communication coalesce into global evaluations of relationships as turbulent. In turn, the theory addresses the effect of relational turbulence on personal, relational, and social outcomes. Finally, the theory explains how communication can contribute to the development of both turbulence and resilience in romantic relationships.     

Randomness in retrospect: Exploring the interactions between memory and randomness cognition

People tend to believe that sequences of random events produce fewer and shorter streaks than is actually the case. Although this error has been demonstrated repeatedly and in many forms, nearly all studies of randomness cognition have focused on how people think about random events occurring in the present or future. This article examines how our biased beliefs about randomness interact with properties of memory to influence our judgments about and memory for past random events. We explore this interaction by examining how beliefs about randomness affect our memory for random events and how certain properties of memory alter our tendency to categorize events as random. Across three experiments, we demonstrate an interaction between randomness cognition and three well-established but distinct properties of memory: (1) the reconstructive nature of memory, (2) primacy and recency effects, and (3) duration neglect. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Effects of relational uncertainty in heightening national identification and reactive approach motivation of Japanese

This study investigated whether relational uncertainty poses uncertainty threat, which causes compensatory behaviours among Japanese. We hypothesised that Japanese, as collectivists, would perceive relational uncertainty to pose uncertainty threat. In two experiments, we manipulated relational uncertainty, and confirmed that participants exhibited compensatory reactions to reduce aversive feelings due to it. In Study 1, we conducted direct comparison between relational uncertainty, independent self‐uncertainty and control conditions. The results revealed that participants who were instructed to imagine events pertaining to relational uncertainty heightened national identification as compensation than did participants in the control condition, but independent self‐uncertainty did not provoke such effects. In Study 2, we again manipulated relational uncertainty; however, we also manipulated participants' individualism‐collectivism cultural orientation through priming, and the analyses yielded a significant interaction effect between these variables. Relational uncertainty evoked reactive approach motivation, a cause for compensatory behaviours, among participants primed with collectivism, but not for individualism. It was concluded that the effect of uncertainty on compensatory behaviour is influenced by cultural priming, and that relational uncertainty is important to Japanese.     

Information Seeking Beyond Initial Interaction.

This essay extends previous work on uncertainty and information seeking within close relationships by considering how relationship parameters correspond with the directness of people's information‐seeking strategies. Because we believe that assumptions of uncertainty reduction theory (Berger & Calabrese, 1975) have been translated into the context of close relationships without attention to the unique features of that domain, we begin by reframing questions about uncertainty to reflect issues relevant to intimate associations. In particular, we reconsider the focus of uncertainty, the function of uncertainty reduction, and the nature of information seeking. We then discuss how relationship intimacy, power dynamics, and information expectancies correspond with information‐seeking behavior within close relationships. In doing so, we highlight how the negotiation of relational uncertainty may function to sustain intimate associations.     

Beyond common features: the role of roles in determining similarity

Historically, accounts of object representation and perceived similarity have focused on intrinsic features. Although more recent accounts have explored how objects, scenes, and situations containing common relational structures come to be perceived as similar, less is known about how the perceived similarity of parts or objects embedded within these relational systems is affected. The current studies test the hypothesis that objects situated in common relational systems come to be perceived as more similar. Similarity increases most for objects playing the same role within a relation (e.g., predator), but also increases for objects playing different roles within the same relation (e.g., the predator or prey role in the hunts relation) regardless of whether the objects participate in the same instance of the relation. This pattern of results can be captured by extending existing models that extract meaning from text corpora so that they are sensitive to the verb-specific thematic roles that objects fill. Alternative explanations based on analogical and inferential processes are also considered, as well as the implications of the current findings to research in language processing, decision making, and category learning.     

Relational Uncertainty and Cortisol Responses to Hurtful and Supportive Messages from a Dating Partner

This paper evaluates theoretical claims linking relational uncertainty about a relationship partner to experiences of stress during interactions with that partner. Two observational studies were conducted to evaluate the association between relational uncertainty and salivary cortisol in the context of hurtful and supportive interactions. In Study 1, participants (N = 89) engaged in a conversation about core traits or values with a partner, who was trained to be hurtful. In Study 2, participants (N = 89) received supportive messages after completing a series of stressful tasks and receiving negative performance feedback. As predicted, partner uncertainty was associated with greater cortisol reactivity to the hurtful interaction in Study 1. Contrary to expectations, Study 1 results also indicated that self uncertainty was associated with less cortisol reactivity, when self, partner, and relationship uncertainty were tested in the same model. Study 2 revealed that relational uncertainty dampened cortisol reactions to performing poorly on tasks while the partner observed. As predicted, Study 2 also found that partner uncertainty was associated with less cortisol recovery after the supportive interaction, but neither self nor relationship uncertainty was associated with rate of cortisol change during the recovery period.     

Introduction: Special Issue on Positive Psychology and Adult Development

An adult seems to articulate surprisingly similar meaning themes and similar processes about relationships in several widely disparate domains of behavior, domains of both non-pathological and pathological types. Whether the person is consciously describing early relationships with parental figures, unconsciously acting them out in current relationships, experiencing relationships with God or the Transcendent, or acting on the basis of relational delusions during psychotic episodes, his or his experienced relational reality seems to be filtered through a single, coherent, personally unique spiritual, existential, and epistemological relational lens. Conflicts may involve other relational meanings, but may be conflicts because of the existence of that dominant lens. Two parts of that dominant lens system, specifically the part relating the person’s concept of God to the other parts of the system and the part relating the specifics of psychotic breaks and spiritual emergence to other parts of the system, are seldom discussed. Both understanding the person’s dominant relational lens and the implications of that person’s using the lens to see reality, and sharing that knowledge with the individual (if he or he has stabilized to some degree) can help the troubled or disoriented individual. That person can gradually give a more adaptive meaning to consistent distortions in the many areas of meaning and behavior attached to relationships, and even to very skewed behavior such as hallucinations and delusions during psychotic breaks. Distortions during experiences of spiritual emergence also can be made clearer to the disturbed client if the therapist has a better understanding of the person’s overall coherent relational meaning system and its implications, and can translate the language of that system into spiritually transformative terms. A case is summarized and discussed as an example of these ideas. Then, two theories are described. A useful theory of human-felt connection and a cognitive developmental theory of Postformal Complex Thought have been developed by the author and described in earlier publications. These two theories help make sense of the multiple but coherent themes, cognitive dimensions of theme genesis and change, and the nature of the relational lenses used. Suggestions about interventions in the person’s system of coherently distorted relational themes, suggestions based on the two theories, are discussed. The recommendation is made that all therapists become fluent in the languages of, and especially the connections among, all of the relational areas named in the title of this paper that are part of the coherent relational theme.     

Predicted Outcome Value During Initial Interactions A Reformulation of Uncertainty Reduction Theory

This article presents an expansion and reformulation of uncertainty reduction theory. Past research indicates that support for the basic axioms of the uncertainty perspective is weak, especially with regard to initial interaction processes. It is suggested that uncertainty reduction is not the primary concern of individuals during this entry phase, as previously posited. Rather, uncertainty reduction is cast as subordinate to the more central concern of increasing positive relational outcomes. During initial interactions, uncertainty reduction is expected to enhance individuals perceived ability to forecast future relational outcomes. Important initial interaction behaviors and decisions are presumed to follow from the values these forecasted outcomes take. Several major revisions of uncertainty axioms and theorems are generated.     

Ghosted?: Navigating strategies for reducing uncertainty and implications surrounding ambiguous loss

Ghosting is the unilateral dissolution process of ceasing communication through media. When ghosted, non‐initiators are often left without the ability to navigate the resulting uncertainty or impending dissolution processes. Utilizing uncertainty reduction theory and ambiguous loss, this investigation explores effective and ineffective strategies used to find answers, reduce uncertainty, and navigate post‐dissolution consequences. Employing two studies from Amazon's Mechanical Turk, a thematic analysis to delineate and affirm categories—7 effective and ineffective strategies and 11 categories of personal and relational implications after being ghosted—was used. These studies provide insight about non‐initiators process to resolve their uncertainty and highlight ramifications from ambiguity that non‐initiators experience after being ghosted. These findings discuss connections to knowledge acquisition, closure processing, and consequences of ghosting.     

An investigation of relational turbulence and depressive symptoms in newly married women

This study uses the relational turbulence model to examine depressive symptoms in newly married women. It reports data from a pre‐/posttest study in which 152 women completed an online survey during their engagement and 6 months after their wedding. Nearly 12% of the women reported reliable and clinically meaningful increases in depressive symptoms after their wedding. Using panel data analysis, this study found that increases in self uncertainty, partner uncertainty, and relationship uncertainty as well as in partner interference were associated with increases in depressive symptoms. This novel test of the relational turbulence model examined the impact of change in (rather than level of) relational turbulence, and the findings extend previous work by demonstrating how mechanisms of relational turbulence impact mental health.     

“Test-Tube Baby” procedures: Stress and judgements under uncertainty

Patients participating in an in vim fertilisation with embryo transfer (IVF and ET) programme face uncertainty at each stage of the procedure. Research on heuristics and on stress lead to predictions about behaviour in situations of uncertainty. It was predicted that IVF and ET participants would overestimate the likelihood of success, due to publicity the process has received, and would underestimate the likelihood of an earlier, less publicised. stage in the procedure. Both predictions were confirmed in a total of 70 participants (26 women at out-patient clines, 23 of their partners and 21 surgical in-patients). All the men and all but one woman overestimated the likelihood of becoming pregnant and having a baby. and most of the surgical patients underestimated the likelihood of egg recovery. Estimates were not related to patients' confidence about their information, confirming previous evidence about confidence in inaccurate judgements based on heuristics. Data on patients' distress as indicated by mood rating show high anxiety at points of uncertainty and Pailure, as found in other studies of stress. While the couples shared their inaccurate judgements. they did not necessarily share their distress. The results are discussed in terms of patients' decision making. coping strategies and the implications for doctor-patient communication.     

A longitudinal test of the relational turbulence model of romantic relationship development

A longitudinal study evaluated associations between intimacy and relational uncertainty and characteristics of interdependence within nonmarital romantic relationships. Three hundred and fifteen college students in the United States completed a Web‐based survey about their relationship weekly for 6 weeks. Results indicated nonlinear associations between intimacy and relational uncertainty and perceptions of a partner’s interference (p < .001) that were inconsistent with hypotheses. Intimacy was positively associated with a partner’s influence in and facilitation of activities (p < .001). An interaction between intimacy and a partner’s influence predicted a partner’s interference, such that a partner’s influence was more positively associated with interference at low, compared to high, intimacy (p < .05). The implications of these findings for rethinking the relational turbulence model are discussed.     

Changes in childhood caregiving impressions among middle-aged and older adults

Childhood experiences and impressions are important for individuals' health and well-being—they often set the stage for how people approach relationships across the lifespan and how they make sense of their relational worlds. However, impressions of these experiences are likely not static and can change over time, even years after these experiences happened. The current study examined how impressions of parental relationships in childhood changed over time, and predictors of these changes, among middle-aged and older adults followed over a 4-year period (N = 2692; M_age = 66.67, SD = 9.15; 64.1% women). Childhood impressions of parental care were mostly stable over time, with 53.5%–65.0% of participants reporting consistent impressions. Becoming divorced/separated as an adult was associated with more negative impressions about relationships with fathers in the past. Having a mother pass away was associated with more positive impressions of mothers' caregiving when participants were children. Higher depressive symptoms at follow-up were associated with darker perceptions of the past—more negative impressions of mothers and fathers as caregivers. The current study is one of the most comprehensive studies of late-life changes in childhood impressions to date, suggesting future directions for studying the organization of relational experiences and recollection over time.