Caution: fragile! Regulating the interpersonal security of chronically insecure partners

The authors present and test a model of interpersonal insecurity compensation. According to this model, perceivers detect targets' chronic insecurities about interpersonal acceptance, become vigilant about upsetting targets, and respond with affective exaggeration, which involves cautiously inflating positive thoughts and feelings about targets and concealing negative sentiments. Results of 3 studies support this model across a variety of relationship types. Perceivers who detected targets' chronic insecurities concealed negative sentiments when they believed their sentiments would be observed by targets (Study 1), converged with other perceivers in their self-reported affective exaggeration to insecure targets (Study 2), and reported vigilance about upsetting targets, which predicted perceivers' enhanced cognitive processing of targets' daily insecurity and intensified their tendencies to exaggerate affections in response to that insecurity (Study 3). Perceivers' affective exaggeration appeared to enhance chronically insecure targets' perceptions of being valued by perceivers, but it also predicted perceivers' reduced relationship satisfaction (Studies 2 and 3). Results underscore the active, but perhaps dissatisfying, regulation of relationships with chronically insecure relationship partners.     

Thinking of you: nonconscious pursuit of interpersonal goals associated with relationship partners

The mere psychological presence of relationship partners was hypothesized to trigger interpersonal goals that are then pursued nonconsciously. Qualitative data suggested that people tend to pursue different interpersonal goals within different types of relationships (e.g., mother, best friend, coworker). In several studies, priming participants' relationship representations produced goal-directed behavior (achievement, helping, understanding) in line with the previously assessed goal content of those representations. These findings support the hypothesis that interpersonal goals are component features of relationship representations and that mere activation of those representations, even in the partner's physical absence, causes the goals to become active and to guide behavior nonconsciously within the current situation.     

Reconceptualizing individual differences in self-enhancement bias: an interpersonal approach

Self-enhancement bias has been studied from 2 perspectives: L. Festinger's (1954) social comparison theory (self-enhancers perceive themselves more positively than they perceive others) and G. W. Allport's (1937) self-insight theory (self-enhancers perceive themselves more positively than they are perceived by others). These 2 perspectives are theoretically and empirically distinct, and the failure to recognize their differences has led to a protracted debate. A new interpersonal approach to self-enhancement decomposes self-perception into 3 components: perceiver effect, target effect, and unique self-perception. Both theoretical derivations and an illustrative study suggest that this resulting measure of self-enhancement is less confounded by unwanted components of interpersonal perception than previous social comparison and self-insight measures. Findings help reconcile conflicting views about whether self-enhancement is adaptive or maladaptive.     

Rocking together: dynamics of intentional and unintentional interpersonal coordination

The current study investigated the interpersonal coordination that occurred between two people when sitting side-by-side in rocking chairs. In two experiments participant pairs rocked in chairs that had the same or different natural periods. By instructing pairs to coordinate their movements inphase or antiphase, Experiment 1 investigated whether the stable patterns of intentional interpersonal coordination were consistent with the dynamics of within person interlimb coordination. By instructing the participants to rock at their own preferred tempo, Experiment 2 investigated whether the rocking chair movements of visually coupled individuals would become unintentionally coordinated. The degree to which the participants fixated on the movements of their co-actor was also manipulated to examine whether visual focus modulates the strength of interpersonal coordination. As expected, the patterns of coordination observed in both experiments demonstrated that the intentional and unintentional interpersonal coordination of rocking chair movements is constrained by the self-organizing dynamics of a coupled oscillator system. The results of the visual focus manipulations indicate that the stability of a visual interpersonal coupling is mediated by attention and the degree to which an individual is able to detect information about a co-actor's movements.     

Attachment-related affective dynamics: differential reactivity to others' interpersonal behavior

We examined the influences of attachment orientations on within-person changes in affect as a function of perceptions of the interaction partner's agreeable behavior in interactions involving a romantic partner and other kinds of partners. Working adults reported affect, perceptions of the other person's behavior, and the relationship with the other in interpersonal events during 20 days. As expected, the within-person association between perceived partner's agreeable behavior and negative affect was stronger for individuals higher on attachment anxiety and was weaker for individuals higher on attachment avoidance. These effects were more pronounced in interactions with a romantic partner than with other persons. Findings demonstrate that attachment orientations are associated with differing within-person processes and that these processes are sensitive to kind of interaction partner.     

Adolescent Suicidal Ideation Subgroups and their Association with Suicidal Plans and Attempts in Young Adulthood

Suicidal ideation during adolescence is quite common. Longitudinal ideation patterns may predict adolescents at greatest risk of progressing to more serious suicidal behaviors. We enumerated suicidal ideation trajectory subgroups and estimated subgroup association with later suicidal plans and attempts using data collected across a 13‐year period from 552 Caucasian adolescents. Three subgroups were found: non‐ideators (no ideation), decreasers (ideation decreased), and increasers (ideation persisted or increased). Probability of planning a suicide was greatest among increasers (females: .54, males: 51, p < .01). Probability of attempting suicide was greatest among male decreasers (.36, p < .01) and female increasers (.25, p < .01).     

Predicting negative spousal attitudes toward depressed persons: a test of Coyne's interpersonal model

The utility of Coyne's (1976a) interactional model in predicting negative spousal attitudes toward depressed patients was examined. Eighty-nine couples with at least 1 member in treatment for depression were selected on the basis of semistructured diagnostic interviews. Overall, spouses living with a depressed patient reported significantly more distress than population norms. Consistent with prediction, patients' reassurance seeking and spouses' mood contributed to negative spousal attitudes. Additional analyses demonstrated that these effects persisted even after controlling for spouse marital adjustment, suggesting that negative spousal attitudes were more than a simple reflection of marital maladjustment.     

Every cloud has a silver lining: interpersonal and individual differences determinants of anger-related behaviors

Two studies examined the effect of status and liking of the anger target on anger behavior and individual differences in anger-related behavior. Participants recalled anger instances in which the anger target was of higher/equal/lower status and/or liked/ unfamiliar/disliked; subsequently, they indicated which behaviors they had displayed. In both studies, anger behaviors could be grouped into behaviors that imply approaching the target (anger-out, assertion, reconciliation) and behaviors that reflect avoidance/anger-in or social sharing. The results demonstrated that approach behaviors more likely occur toward lower status or liked targets; avoidance behaviors and social sharing more likely occur when the target is of higher status or disliked. On an individual differences level, an approach and an avoid/social sharing person class were identified. The findings suggest that anger may motivate prosocial behavior or social sharing, depending on the individual and type of relation with the target. Only few gender differences were found.     

The effects of interpersonal skills training on sex-role identity of premarital dating partners

The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of a problem-solving skills training program on sex-role identity. It was hypothesized that individuals in a problem-solving skills training program would show greater movement toward androgyny relative to a control group. Twenty-six premarital couples were assigned to a problem-solving skills training program and 29 couples served as a contact control group. An analysis of covariance was performed on the Bem Scale masculine and feminine scores to test the effects of group and sex. Results indicated that the experimental group, as compared to the control group, was significantly higher on femininity following treatment. Discussion centered on the implications of being able to change sex-role identity as well as the need to further explore means of facilitating the development of androgyny in adults.     

The benefits of interpersonal regulatory fit for individual goal pursuit

The present work examines whether individual goal pursuit is influenced by advice and suggestions from interaction partners whose regulatory orientation is perceived to fit (vs. not fit) the individual's orientation. We sought to investigate whether such interpersonal regulatory fit yields motivational consequences for goal pursuit that parallel those of intrapersonal regulatory fit. Furthermore, we investigated whether these effects occur in a symmetrical fashion for promotion- and prevention-oriented individuals. The results of 6 experiments revealed that promotion-oriented individuals profit from interpersonal regulatory fit, experiencing motivational benefits when receiving goal-relevant advice from promotion-oriented interaction partners; however, prevention-oriented individuals do not profit from prevention-oriented interaction partners. These findings support the proposal that regulatory fit can fruitfully be examined as an interpersonal phenomenon, highlighting the role that interaction partners may play in the pursuit of personal goals.     

Influence of individual and interpersonal factors on satisfaction and stability in romantic relationships

Guided by Bradbury and Fincham's (1988) contextual model, the current study examined the influence of distal factors that reflect orientations toward relationships (relationship standards, attachment motivation, autonomy motivation) and proximal factors that reflect patterns of interaction (self-disclosure, socioemotional behaviors, conflict tactics) on satisfaction in romantic relationships. Although we expected both types of factors would be associated with satisfaction, we hypothesized that the daily interactional patterns would mediate the relationship between the individual factors and satisfaction. At Time 1, individual factors and satisfaction were measured via questionnaire, and interpersonal factors were measured via a 2-week daily interaction record. The results indicated the individual factors of attachment motivation and autonomy motivation, and the interpersonal factors of self-disclosure and positive socioemotional behaviors were related to satisfaction. Regression analysis indicated the proximal factors partially mediated the relationship between the distal factors and Satisfaction. At Time 2 (approximately 6 months later), slightly more than half of the original sample was contacted to assess respondents’relationship status; those respondents whose relationships were stable (continued over time) had significantly higher mean scores on attachment, positive behaviors, and self-disclosure at Time 1 than did respondents whose relationships had dissolved. Taken together, these results suggest that attachment and prosocial communications are central dimensions contributing to satisfaction and stability in dating relationships.     

Social spatial cognition in rat tetrads: how they select their partners and their gathering places

Spatial organization is an extensively studied field, in which most of the research has been on how the physical environment is perceived and conceived. There is a consensus that physical attributes such as environment geometry and landmarks are key factors in shaping spatial cognition. Nevertheless, the numerous studies of spatial behavior have usually been carried out on individuals, thereby overlooking the possible impact of the social environment. In the present study, rats were exposed to an unfamiliar open-field, first alone and then in tetrads of unfamiliar individuals, in order to monitor and analyze when and how their individual spatial behavior converged to a group spatial behavior. We found that the unfamiliar rats spent most of their time in companionship, first with preferred partners and ultimately as a quartet. Specifically, group formation was dynamic and gradual, with the rats first forming duos, then trios, and ultimately a quartet. Trios and quartets mostly huddled in the same specific corner that became a shared home base, from which they took solo or duo roundtrips to the arena. The present study unveils how, by means of gradual interactions among self, place, and conspecifics, four unfamiliar rats organized together their social spatial behavior.     

Self-referenced interpersonal similarity phenomena: Theoretical specification and assessment at the individual,dyadic and group levels

A basic interpersonal task is assessing if another is similar to oneself, and is even observed among prelinguistic infants. In 450 highly acquainted dyads (150 from family, friend, co-worker groups), participants judged others' similarity to themselves, and predicted others' similarity ratings of them. Assumed reciprocity and reciprocity of similarity judgments were observed; the former was much stronger than the latter. Specific others were judged as uniquely similar; in families these judgments were reciprocated. People inaccurately predicted others', and specific others', similarity judgments. Common members of these groups (key person) judged others as similar to themselves, and predicted others' reciprocated similarity judgments, although they did not. Social relations modeling showed that interpersonal similarity assessments in different groups are multiple phenomena at multiple levels of analysis and should not be treated as a single, unitary phenomenon.     

Suicidal adolescents' perceptions of their family environment.

This study examined the extent to which adolescents' perceptions of their family environments were associated with suicidal behavior. Fifteen suicidal adolescents, 14 psychiatric controls, and 14 normal controls rated their families on cohesiveness, adaptability, parent-adolescent communication, parental caring, and parental over-protectiveness. Suicidal adolescents rated their families as the least cohesive and most rigid of the 3 groups, suggesting that adolescent suicidal behavior may occur when isolation is experienced within an inflexible family system. Suicidal and psychiatric control adolescents rated their families as similarly dysfunctional along the remaining variables, and as more dysfunctional than families of normal control adolescents. The implications of these findings are discussed, and it is suggested that several characteristics commonly attributed to families of suicidal adolescents may actually be general risk factors for adolescent psychopathology, rather than for suicidal behavior specifically.     

Temporal dynamics of guilt: changes in the role of interpersonal and intrapsychic factors

Baumeister, Stillwell and Heatherton (1994) argue that guilt serves primarily interpersonal functions and take issue with more traditional intrapsychic accounts of guilty feelings, in which causality, responsibility, and blame are emphasized. We examined the validity of these claims by asking 198 college students to imagine that they destroyed the valued property of either their best friend or mother, under each of three conditions of causal responsibility (accidental, foreseeable, unjustifiably intended). They then rated the reactions they anticipated from the victim (anger, disappointment; change in impression of the perpetrator), their perceived blameworthiness, aspects of causality, and how guilty they would feel immediately after perpetrating the harm as well as an entire day later. Imagined guilt was curvilinearly related to responsibility at time 1, but linearly at time 2. Results suggest that people only weigh interpersonal concerns more heavily after time has elapsed, but that both factors integrally affect feelings of guilt. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationship maintenance strategies of rotational workers and their partners

Although individuals who reside permanently in one location and work temporarily in another (i.e., rotational workers) represent a sizeable segment of the population, they are understudied in the empirical literature. Because rotational workers and their at-home partners have unique long-distance relationships due to frequent separations and reunions, they and their relationships should be examined. The primary aim of this study was to identify key factors associated with maintenance of romantic relationships between rotational workers and their at-home partners. Participants (N = 289) were rotational workers (n = 129) and at-home partners of workers (n = 160) who completed online surveys on individual, dyadic, and extra-dyadic relationship maintenance behaviors and relationship characteristics over the course of two working-reunion (roster) phases. Results indicated individual, dyadic, and extra-dyadic behaviors positively predicted perceived relationship quality among partners and workers. Among partners, generosity positively predicted relationship quality at the first reunion and second departure phases. All other individual, dyadic, and extra-dyadic relationship maintenance behaviors predicted relationship quality, regardless of the roster phase. Overall, results suggest the importance of relationship maintenance education for individuals in rotational romantic relationships.     

Expressed emotion in depressed patients and their partners.

This study was designed to assess the expressed emotion (EE) status in the spouses of depressed patients and the patients themselves, to relate the EE status to the severity of depression as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and to compare the prevalence of high EE between the target and control group. Seventeen depressed patients and their spouses, and 20 control couples participated in the study. The Five-Minute Speech Sample was used to assess the EE status. High EE was significantly more common in spouses of depressed patients and the patients themselves than in controls. There was a significant relationship between the EE status of the patients and their spouses. High EE in the patient and in the spouse corresponded significantly with a high BDI score of the patient. These findings underline the importance that in EE research the patients' EE status as well as their present mental health state must also be taken into account.