An Assessment of Romantic Commitment Among Black and White Dating Couples1

The purpose of this study was to test the utility of the Investment Model (Rusbult, 1980) of romantic commitment for black and white dating couples. Twenty black and 20 white college dating couples completed questionnaires measuring the Investment Model components and additional variables. According to the Investment Model, the level of romantic commitment is positively related to relationship satisfaction and positively related to the magnitude of personal investments, but negatively related to the availability of romantic alternatives. We expected the romantic commitment of black couples to differ from that of white couples due to the shortage of available black male partners. The only racial differences to emerge, however, were found in a Race8 Gender interaction: Commitment increased with an increase in satisfaction for white males, but not black males. Gender differences indicated that the Investment Model provided a better account of the commitment of females. We also examined the role of two other factors in the prediction of commitment: perceived physical attractiveness of the partner and concern about AIDS. Both factors were significantly related to commitment for males, but not females, and neither of these factors demonstrated racial differences.     

Perceived social image and life satisfaction across cultures

We studied the relationship between perceived social image and life satisfaction in four different cultural groups. One-hundred nine Indian (63 females, 46 males), 67 Pakistani/Bangladeshi (36 females, 31 males), 76 White British (43 females, 33 males), and 94 European Americans (43 females, 48 males) completed measures on the cultural importance of social image, positive and negative emotions, academic achievement, and perceived social image. Indian and Pakistani/Bangladeshi participants valued social image more than White British and European-American participants. Consistent with this value difference, a positive perceived social image predicted life satisfaction among Indian and Pakistani/Bangladeshi participants only. For these participants, perceived social image predicted life satisfaction above and beyond the effects of emotions and academic achievement. Academic achievement only predicted life satisfaction among White British and European Americans. Emotions were significant predictors of life satisfaction for all participants.     

General traits of personality and affectivity as predictors of satisfaction in intimate relationships: evidence from self- and partner-ratings

Self- and partner-ratings on trait affect and the Big Five were obtained from 74 married and 136 dating couples. The relationship satisfaction of each person (the "target") was correlated with four sets of ratings: (a) target's self-rated personality, (b) target's partner-rated personality, (c) partner's self-rated personality, and (d) partner's target-rated personality. Self- and partner-ratings of the target's personality yielded very similar results. Negative and positive affectivity were consistent predictors of satisfaction in both samples. Conscientiousness and agreeableness were reliably related to satisfaction in the dating couples, whereas extraversion consistently correlated with satisfaction in the married couples. These traits jointly predicted as much as 34% (self-ratings) and 26% (partner-ratings) of the variance in satisfaction. In contrast, the partner's personality played a lesser role in satisfaction.     

Gender and the prerogatives of dating and marriage: An experimental assessment of a sample of college students

Experimental data were used to study the amount of support men and women have to pursue nonsexual and sexual activities without their partner in the contexts of dating and marriage. Attention was also focused on whether a partner's independent behavior would be seen as less acceptable in marriage than in dating. The results showed that marriage did reduce a partner's right to engage in outside involvements. However, only males saw marriage as more restrictive than dating. Moreover, these restrictions were not directed at women primarily, but were directed at both male and female target persons. Where differences were found between male and female prerogatives in marriage and dating, they appeared to favor females, providing evidence that among college students some of the structures associated with intimate relationships supported women's interests over men's.Thanks go to Barry Markovsky and Lorraine Dorfman for their helpful comments.     

The attraction–similarity model and dating couples: Projection,perceived similarity,and psychological benefits

According to the attraction–similarity model, relationship quality leads to perceptions of partner–self similarity. Relationship quality and perceived similarity then provide psychological benefits for the perceiver. Across 3 studies, relationship quality positively predicted perceptions of similarity. Study 1 indicated that for moderate, but not low, relationship‐relevant traits, individuals projected the self onto the dating partner as a way of perceiving similarities. In Study 2, priming high, as opposed to low, relationship quality led to greater perceived similarity on the moderately relevant traits. Study 3 indicated greater perceived similarity between self and dating partner than between self and average same‐gender student on the moderately relevant traits. Relationship quality and perceived similarity with the dating partner on the moderately relevant traits also predicted psychological benefits.     

Marital adjustment among rural couples: The role of expressiveness

This study examined the relationship between marital adjustment and husbands' and wives' instrumentalness and expressiveness. Eighty-five rural couples completed the Spanier Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses indicated that husbands' expressiveness was the sole predictor of both husbands' and wives' marital adjustment. Results are compared to previous research findings with urban couples. Implications of the findings for gender-related patterns of socialization are also discussed.     

The effects of perceived social support on quality of life in patients awaiting coronary artery bypass grafting and their partners: testing dyadic dynamics using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model

Patients awaiting coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) need support from their partners or family caregivers to manage their self care successfully and to maximise quality of life. Partners need social support to help overcome the stressful tasks of an unexpected caregiving role. It is not known whether the individual's perceived social support contributes to their own, as well as their partner's quality of life. The aims of this study were to assess differences in social support and quality of life in patients and partners awaiting CABG, and to examine whether patients' and partners' perceived social support predicted their own, as well as their partner's quality of life before CABG. This cross-sectional study recruited 84 dyads (patients 84% males, aged 64.5 years and partners 94% females, aged 61.05 years). Perceived social support was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support survey, with sub-scales for informational/emotional support, affectionate support, tangible support and positive social interaction. Quality of life was assessed using the Short-Form 12 Health Survey. Dyadic data were analysed using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, with distinguishable dyad regression. Results revealed the patients' informational/emotional support exhibited an actor effect on their own mental health (? = 0.19, p = 0.001); indicating those with low informational/emotional support had poorer mental health. There was a partner effect of the patients' informational/emotional support on their partner's mental health (? = 0.14, p = 0.024), indicating the patients' informational/emotional support was associated with the partner's mental health. None of the other types of social support exhibited an actor effect or a partner effect on the patient's or the partner's mental or physical health. More research into the relationship between social support and mental health is needed to help inform the design of interventions that target the dyad.     

Attachment styles and relationship quality: Actual,perceived, and ideal partner matching

Attachment dimension matching in dating relationships and how matching relates to relationship quality were investigated. Across 2 studies, individuals preferred similar but more secure partners (lower anxiety and lower avoidance) as reflected by their ideals. In Study 1, greater similarity between the self and perceptions of the partner's anxiety predicted more positive relationship outcomes (e.g., relationship satisfaction, trust). Similar results were found for ideal–perceived partner avoidance similarity, whereas ideal–perceived partner anxiety similarity was less important. Study 2 involved both partners in the relationship and indicated that relationship outcomes were predicted by the actor's and partner's attachment dimensions as well as by ideal–perceived partner similarity and self–perceived partner similarity.     

Reconstructing the dates of personal events: Gender differences in accuracy

One commonly held stereotype is that females are more concerned with, and attentive to, dates than are males. One possible implication of this idea is that females have a more welldeveloped temporal reference schema than males, which should allow females to reconstruct the dates on which past events have occurred with more accuracy than males. This accuracy hypothesis was assessed by re-analysing the data from four studies collected in previous work on the accuracy of event dating. Analyses of two of the studies yielded evidence for more accurate female dating; analysis of a third study produced a substantial, but non-significant, trend in the predicted direction; and analysis of the fourth study yielded a small, but nonsignificant, reversal. A meta-analysis combining the results of these four studies indicated that the dating accuracy of females was superior to the dating accuracy of males. Additional analyses indicated that these differences were probably not due to differences in self-disclosure patterns.     

An investigation of the effects of sex of self and other on perceptions of communication satisfaction

This study examined the effects of sex of self and other on communication satisfaction. Respondents rated perceived satisfaction with a conversation they had just completed or one they recalled. Communication satisfaction was operationalized by a 60-item self-report instrument. Results indicated that a person's own gender does not influence the amount of communication satisfaction one experiences, and mixed sex dyads are slightly more satisfying for males and females.     

D型人格对大学新生心理健康的影响:基于三个时间点调查数据的有调节的中介模型

为考察感知到的压力在D型人格与大学新生心理健康关系中的中介作用及心理韧性的调节作用。在新生入学3个月内的不同时间点,利用D型人格量表（T1）、心理韧性量表（T2）、感知到的压力量表（T2）和心理健康量表（T3）对某大学1428名大学新生进行调查。结果显示：（1）在控制性别、年龄、是否恋爱和心理健康（T1）后,社交抑制对感知到的压力具有显著预测作用,感知到的压力对心理健康具有显著预测作用,即社交抑制通过感知到的压力的中介作用间接影响心理健康;在负性情感与心理健康的关系中,感知到的压力中介作用不成立;（2）心理韧性在社交抑制与心理健康的关系中调节效应显著;心理韧性在感知到的压力与心理健康的关系中调节效应显著;（3）一个有调节的中介模型成立。研究结果不仅有助于理解大学新生适应大学生活过程中的心理状况,而且为提高大学新生心理健康水平提供参考依据。     

D型人格对大学新生心理健康的影响:基于三个时间点调查数据的有调节的中介模型

为考察感知到的压力在D型人格与大学新生心理健康关系中的中介作用及心理韧性的调节作用。在新生入学3个月内的不同时间点,利用D型人格量表（T1）、心理韧性量表（T2）、感知到的压力量表（T2）和心理健康量表（T3）对某大学1428名大学新生进行调查。结果显示：（1）在控制性别、年龄、是否恋爱和心理健康（T1）后,社交抑制对感知到的压力具有显著预测作用,感知到的压力对心理健康具有显著预测作用,即社交抑制通过感知到的压力的中介作用间接影响心理健康;在负性情感与心理健康的关系中,感知到的压力中介作用不成立;（2）心理韧性在社交抑制与心理健康的关系中调节效应显著;心理韧性在感知到的压力与心理健康的关系中调节效应显著;（3）一个有调节的中介模型成立。研究结果不仅有助于理解大学新生适应大学生活过程中的心理状况,而且为提高大学新生心理健康水平提供参考依据。     

Body image disturbance and relationship satisfaction among college students

Two hundred and eighty-two college undergraduate and graduate students, including 81 males and 201 females, responded to an on-line survey measuring relationship satisfaction, body image distortion and body dissatisfaction, self esteem, and thoughts about weight loss. A modified Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMSS) queried respondents about their relationship satisfaction as well as their perception of their partner’s satisfaction with the relationship. Respondents checked one of 17 figural drawings indicating their perceived and ideal size as well as judgments of perceived and ideal size of their partner. Females had greater body image size distortion and body dissatisfaction, lower self esteem, and more frequent thoughts about weight loss. Males were more dissatisfied with their partner’s size. Respondent’s body size distortion predicted perceived partner relationship satisfaction, with greater size distortion predicting less perceived partner relationship satisfaction. Greater perceived partner relationship satisfaction predicted increased respondents’ relationship satisfaction. Perceived partner’s dissatisfaction with respondent’s body size only approached significance as a predictor of respondent’s relationship satisfaction. However, the strength of this variable as a predictor warrants further examination of its potential role in relationship satisfaction.     

The "cost of caring" in youths' friendships: considering associations among social perspective taking, co-rumination, and empathetic distress

The current research considered the costs of caring in youths' friendships. The development of a new construct, empathetic distress, allowed for a direct test of the commonly held belief that females suffer greater vicarious distress in response to close others' stressors and problems than do males. Empathetic distress refers to one's strongly sharing a relationship partner's distress over problems to the point of taking on the partner's distress and experiencing it as one's own. This new construct was examined in an ethnically diverse sample of early adolescents who responded to a series of questionnaires in their classrooms. Results indicated that girls did experience greater empathetic distress in friendships than did boys. In addition, the current research revealed that social perspective taking in friendships (i.e., the social-cognitive ability to infer and understand the friend's perspective) had adjustment trade-offs in that it predicted greater positive friendship quality but also greater empathetic distress in the friendship. Interestingly, the associations of social perspective taking with both positive friendship quality and empathetic distress were partially mediated by co-rumination or excessive discussion of problems. Applied implications of the findings that girls' greater social perspective taking and associated co-rumination contributed both to their greater positive friendship quality but also to greater costs of caring in the form of empathetic distress are discussed.     

Protective buffering and psychological distress among couples coping with breast cancer: The moderating role of relationship satisfaction.

This study examined whether the association between protective buffering and psychological distress was moderated by relationship satisfaction. Protective buffering is defined as hiding worries, denying concerns, and yielding to one's partner in an effort to avoid disagreement and reduce one's partner's upset and burden. Two hundred thirty-five women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and their partners completed measures of protective buffering, psychological distress, and relationship satisfaction at 3 time points over an 18-month period after cancer diagnosis. The authors hypothesized that protective buffering would result in more distress among patients and partners reporting higher relationship satisfaction than among patients and partners reporting lower levels of relationship satisfaction. Patients' protective buffering predicted more distress among patients rating their relationships as more satisfactory, whereas the patients' buffering did not predict distress among patients rating their relationships as less satisfactory. Partner relationship satisfaction also moderated the association between patients' buffering and partners' distress. These findings elucidate conditions under which protective buffering may have detrimental effects.     

Two personalities, one relationship: both partners' personality traits shape the quality of their relationship

This research tested 6 models of the independent and interactive effects of stable personality traits on each partner's reports of relationship satisfaction and quality. Both members of 360 couples (N = 720) completed the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire and were interviewed about their relationship. Findings show that a woman's relationship happiness is predicted by her partner's low Negative Emotionality, high Positive Emotionality, and high Constraint, whereas a man's relationship happiness is predicted only by his partner's low Negative Emotionality. Findings also show evidence of additive but not interactive effects: Each partner's personality contributed independently to relationship outcomes but not in a synergistic way. These results are discussed in relation to models that seek to integrate research on individual differences in personality traits with research on interpersonal processes in intimate relationships.     

Gender of Subject and Target as Mediators of Aggression1

The effects of gender of the subject and the target of aggression were studied by examining responses of 414 undergraduates to four anger-inducing scenarios. As predicted, in the three scenarios not involving dating, males tended to be more aggressive and to expect more approval of aggression from their friends than did females; more aggression was directed against a male, and friends approved more of aggression against a male than a female target. Also as predicted, in the scenario involving a romantic partner, females were more aggressive than males and expected more approval for aggression from friends; males were more likely than females to feel guilty, apologize, and speak politely to their dates. The results suggest that the relationship between gender and aggression is influenced by situational context, friends' anticipated reactions, feelings of guilt, and expectancies of successful outcomes.     

Relationship of testosterone to men's family functioning at mid-life: A research note

Sociobiological theory suggests that aggression coupled with altruism is highly adaptive for males in all social systems, including the family, whereas sex-role convergence theory indicates that lower levels of aggression are most adaptive for men, particularly at mid-life. The purpose of this study was to determine the role that testosterone, as a proxy for aggression, plays as an adaptive mechanism in the lives of middle-aged males. The sample used in this study consisted of 37 middle-aged (39–50 years of age) males employed in professional occupations in a midwestern metropolitan area. Testosterone levels were regressed on factors typically found to be related to male satisfaction with family life at mid-life: marital satisfaction, parent-adolescent communication, amount of emotional expressiveness, and androgynous characteristics; recent positive and negative stressors and trait anxiety were statistically controlled. Results of step-wise multiple regression analysis indicated that low levels of testosterone were significantly (R = .34, P < .01) related to enhanced marital and parental relationships and androgynous behaviors; however, emotional expressiveness was significantly related to high levels of testosterone.     

Relationship satisfaction and dating experience: factors affecting future time orientation in relationships with the opposite sex

This study was conducted to examine the effects of relationship satisfaction and dating experience on future time orientation in relationships with the opposite sex. Data from a sample of 226 undergraduate students from Middle East Technical University indicated that individuals who were highly satisfied in their relationships with the opposite sex tended to seek temporary relationships more and tended to be less future focused in their relationships than those who were less satisfied. Results also indicated that present dating experience did not show any significant effect on future time orientation; however, previous dating experience did show an effect in the interaction with relationship satisfaction and different factors of future time orientation. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Relationships among goal orientations, motivational climate and flow in adolescent athletes: differences by gender

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationships among perceived motivational climate, individuals' goal orientations, and dispositional flow, with attention to possible gender differences. A sample of 413 young athletes, ages 12 to 16 years, completed the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 (PMCSQ-2) and Perception of Success Questionnaire (POSQ), as well as the Dispositional Flow Scale. Task orientation was positively and significantly related to a perceived task-involving motivational climate and to the disposition to experience flow in the sport. Ego orientation was positively and significantly associated with a perceived ego-involving motivational climate and with dispositional flow. The perceptions of task-involving and ego-involving motivational climates were positively and significantly linked to general dispositional flow. Multiple regression analysis indicated that both task and ego goal orientations and perceived task- and ego-oriented climates predicted dispositional flow. Males displayed a stronger ego orientation, and were more likely to report that they participated in an ego-oriented climate, than did females. To the contrary, the females were more likely to perceive a task-oriented climate than did the males. No meaningful differences were found between males and females in general dispositional flow.