Agency and Communion in People with Rheumatoid Arthritis

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the previously found relations among the gender-linked personality orientations of agency, communion, unmitigated agency, and unmitigated communion, and health outcomes existed within a sample of adults with rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic disease that is more prevalent among women than among men. We obtained self-report data from 158 participants on the gender-linked personality orientations, psychological distress, disability, pain, and life satisfaction. As hypothesized, regression analyses indicated that agency was significantly associated with better health outcomes, whereas unmitigated communion was associated with poorer health outcomes. Assessment of these personality variables in people with rheumatoid arthritis may help to identify those at high risk for adverse outcomes.     

Agency and Communion Related to Mental Health in Japanese Young Adults

Based on Bakan’s (1966) theory, Helgeson (1994) presented a conceptual model of the relationships of biological sex, agency, and communion with psychological and physical well-being. This study was designed to examine the relationships of mitigated and unmitigated agency (M, M-) /communion (F, F-) with mental health in Japanese young adults. Participants were 602 (247 men, 355 women) undergraduate students and vocational school students in Japan. The average age of the participants was 20.0 years (SD=4.1). The results showed that communion (F) was positively associated with social support, unmitigated communion (F-) was strongly and positively associated with dysphoria for both men and women, unmitigated agency (M-) was also positively associated with dysphoria for women, and agency (M) was negatively associated with dysphoria for women. Both M and F were positively associated and F- was negatively associated with self-esteem for both men and women. M may moderate F-, and social support may moderate M-, for women. Thus our findings partially supported Helgeson’s model.     

The implications of unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion for domains of problem behavior

Agency and communion are broad dimensions of personality that reflect a focus on the self and a focus on others, respectively. In this article, we distinguish unmitigated agency, a focus on the self to the exclusion of others, flom agency, and we distinguish unmitigated communion, a focus on others to the exclusion of self, from communion. We argue that it is unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion that are linked to domains of problem behavior, in particular relationship difficulties and poor health behavior. Unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion are associated with a lack of support from others, a reluctance to ask others for help, and a range of poor health behaviors. The reasons for these links differ. The links to problem behavior for unmitigated communion individuals stem from their tendency to subjugate their own needs to the needs of others and their dependence on others for esteem. The links to problem behavior for unmitigated agency individuals stem from their unwillingness to attend to relationships and their negative view of others.     

Links between unmitigated communion,interpersonal behaviors and well-being: A daily diary approach

We examined the links between unmitigated communion, interpersonal behavior, and well-being on a daily basis with 79 college students. After completing a baseline questionnaire, participants completed brief on-line questionnaires at the end of the day to assess support interactions, interpersonal behavior, and well-being for 10 consecutive days. We used multi-level modeling to examine whether unmitigated communion was connected to support and interpersonal behavior, whether support and interpersonal behavior were connected to well-being, and whether unmitigated communion moderated the latter relations. Unmitigated communion was related to increased support provision and a host of interpersonal difficulties. Daily support provision and being overly nurturant were positively related to well-being, but these relations were limited to individuals characterized by low unmitigated communion.     

Agency,communion and entitlement

In this study, the relationship between agency, communion, and the active, passive, and revenge forms of entitlement is examined. Results indicate that active entitlement was positively related to agency, negatively to communion (Study 1), and unrelated to unmitigated agency and communion (Study 2). Passive entitlement was positively related to communion (in regular and unmitigated forms) and negatively related to agency (in both forms). Revenge entitlement was positively related to agency (unmitigated and regular), and negatively related to both regular and unmitigated communal orientations. Detected relationships were independent from self‐esteem (Study 1). The findings are discussed in relation to distinctions between narcissistic and healthy entitlement, and within the context of the three‐dimensional model of entitlement.     

Unmitigated Agency and Unmitigated Communion: Distinctions from Agency and Communion

The purpose of this paper is to establish the importance of distinguishing unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion from agency and communion. First, we examine the empirical overlap and distinctions among the four constructs. Then, we demonstrate the differential association of unmitigated agency, unmitigated communion, agency, and communion to relationship and health outcomes. We conclude that only unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion are associated with relationship difficulties and poor health. Finally, we distinguish between the difficulties of the unmitigated agency and the unmitigated communion individual by focusing on interpersonal problems.     

Agentic and communal traits and health: adolescents with and without diabetes

The authors examined whether agentic and communal traits are associated with relationship and health outcomes among adolescents with and without diabetes. They interviewed 263 teens (average age 12; 132 Type 1 diabetes; 131 healthy) on an annual basis for 5 years. The authors measured agency, communion, unmitigated agency, and unmitigated communion as well as parent and peer relationship quality, psychological distress, and diabetes health. In concurrent and lagged multilevel models, unmitigated communion and unmitigated agency were associated with poor relationship outcomes and greater psychological distress for those with and without diabetes. In lagged analyses, unmitigated communion predicted deterioration in diabetes health. Communion and agency were associated with positive relationship and health outcomes, with the former being stronger than the latter. These results underscore the need to focus on unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion when studying the implications of personality for health during adolescence.     

Premenstrual Symptoms in Young Japanese Women: Agency, Communion and Lifestyle Habits

This study aimed to examine associations between the traits of agency and communion and the severity of premenstrual symptoms in young Japanese women, considering lifestyle habits. The participants were 512 Japanese female undergraduate students in the Kansai area (mean age?=?18.5?years, SD?=?.9). The participants were assigned a self-administered questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses showed that higher levels in unmitigated agency were positively associated with total scores of premenstrual symptoms, as well as subscales of concentration, behavioral change, water retention, negative affect and arousal. Higher levels in communion were also positively associated with water retention. However, these associations were attenuated when lifestyle habits were taken into account, except for communion, which remained positively associated with water retention. A psychological approach for gender-related traits could be effective in treating premenstrual symptoms.     

Unmitigated Communion and Adjustment to Breast Cancer: Associations and Explanations1

The goal of this study was to examine the implications of unmitigated communion (a focus on others to the exclusion of the self) for adjustment to breast cancer and to explain any observed relations. Cognitive adaptation theory was the primary explanatory framework adopted. Unmitigated communion was cross‐sectionally associated with poor mental and physical functioning among women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Prospectively, unmitigated communion predicted a decline in a couple of indicators of mental and physical functioning over 3 months. Unmitigated communion was inversely associated with indicators of cognitive adaptation: low self‐esteem, poor body image, less optimism, and greater reliance on external control. Unmitigated communion also was associated with more negative interactions with network members and a decline in support over time. The decline in body image over time had the greatest potential to explain links of unmitigated communion to poor adjustment to disease.     

Unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion: An analysis of the negative components of masculinity and femininity

The negative components of masculinity and femininity, conceptualized by Spence and her colleagues (1979) as unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion, were explored by examining dominant and submissive acts used in their expression. In three separate sessions, subjects (N=129) completed scales designed to measure these constructs, a Dominance Act Report, and a Submissiveness Act Report. Dominant acts used in the expression of unmitigated agency involved the formation of separations (e.g., making decisions without consulting the others involved in them), narcissistic self-assertion (e.g., telling others to perform one's menial tasks), and self-protection (e.g., bluffing one's way out of an embarrassing situation). Submissive acts used in the expression of unmitigated communion involved failing to make normatively appropriate agentic responses (e.g., walking out of a store knowing that one had been short-changed) and subjugating personal desires to group wishes (e.g., giving up vacation plans in deference to the preferences of others). Discussion focuses on elaborating the concepts of unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion.     

Unmitigated communion and health among adolescents with and without diabetes: the mediating role of eating disturbances

The authors examined the implications of unmitigated communion--a focus on others to the exclusion of the self--for psychological and physical health among adolescents with (n = 132) and without (n = 131) diabetes times/during a 1-year period. Unmitigated communion predicted greater psychological distress and lower levels of competence cross-sectionally and longitudinally, controlling for sex, pubertal status, and communion. Health status moderated some longitudinal relations, such that relations held only for adolescents with diabetes. In addition, unmitigated communion was associated with poor metabolic control and predicted a deterioration in metabolic control over the year for adolescents with diabetes. Unmitigated communion also was associated with disturbed eating behavior cross-sectionally and longitudinally, and disturbed eating behavior explained some of the relations of unmitigated communion to psychological but not physical health outcomes.     

Distinctions among agency, communion, and unmitigated agency and communion according to the interpersonal circumplex, Five-factor model, and social-emotional correlates

In this study, we examined common measures of agency (AG), communion (CM), and unmitigated agency (UA) and unmitigated communion (UC) using the interpersonal circumplex and Five-factor models (FFM) as conceptual frameworks. AG aligned with interpersonal dominance in circumplex space and related positively to conscientiousness and inversely to neuroticism. CM corresponded with interpersonal affiliation and related positively to conscientiousness. UA was consistent with hostile-dominance and related to lower conscientiousness and higher neuroticism. UC related to friendly submission but was not strongly represented in the circumplex and did not relate to the FFM. Each construct showed distinct social-emotional correlates. These findings support the convergent and divergent properties of the constructs but suggest that additional attention to the conceptual definition and measurement of UC is warranted.     

Unmitigated communion, social constraints, and psychological distress among women with rheumatoid arthritis

The personality trait of unmitigated communion, an extreme focus on relationships that has been associated with self-neglect, has been linked to poorer outcomes for both men and women, but is more common among women. This longitudinal study is the first to examine the influence of unmitigated communion on adaptation to a chronic illness that affects a much greater proportion of women to men. Women with rheumatoid arthritis completed measures of unmitigated communion, social constraints, and psychological distress at study entry and repeated the distress measure one year later. As expected, unmitigated communion was associated with psychological distress. Cross-sectional moderation analyses indicated that low social constraints buffered the negative effects of unmitigated communion.     

Gender-linked personality traits predict mental health and functional status following a first coronary event.

Three gender-linked traits were examined with respect to adjustment to a coronary event: agency, a focus on the self; communion, a focus on others; and unmitigated communion, an extreme focus on others to the exclusion of the self. Participants (n = 65) were interviewed 1 week and 4 months after a 1st coronary event. Hypotheses were that agency should predict improved health, communion should be unrelated to health, and unmitigated communion should predict worse health over time. Outcomes included depression, anxiety, and well-being (as measured by the Profile of Mood States; D. McNair, M. Lorr, & L. Droppleman, 1971); mental and physical functioning (SF-36; J. E. Ware, K. K. Snow, M. Kosinski, & B. Gandek, 1993); and cardiac symptoms. Results confirmed hypotheses. In addition, unmitigated communion was linked with poor health behavior and negative social interactions, which partly explained the link of unmitigated communion with depression and cardiac symptoms.     

Social interactions and cardiovascular reactivity during problem disclosure among friends

The authors examined the relations of social interactions with cardiovascular response in the context of two friends disclosing a problem. They also examined the relations of the sex composition of the dyad and partner gender-related traits (communion/agency) with social interactions. Same-sex and opposite-sex dyads (N = 79) came to the lab. One friend disclosed a real-life problem while the partner provided support; cardiovascular response was monitored. Women provided more emotional support than men, and this sex difference was due to women's higher levels of communion. Agency was linked with greater advice, whereas unmitigated communion was linked with greater negative interactions. Negative interactions predicted slower diastolic blood pressure (DBP) recovery, whereas advice predicted slower heart rate (HR) recovery. Sex composition of dyad moderated some of these effects.     

Depressive symptoms and unmitigated communion in support providers

In this research, we argue and demonstrate that the association between enacted (un)supportive behaviour and depressive symptoms is a function of the providers' levels of unmitigated communion (UC). UC is characterized by overinvolvement in others' problems, self‐neglect and externalized self‐evaluation. These characteristics appear to predispose individuals high in UC to experience depressive symptoms. As anticipated, we show that enacted supportive behaviour was negatively associated with depressive symptoms (Study 1 and 2), and enacted unsupportive behaviour was positively associated with depressive symptoms (Study 2), but only among individuals low in UC. Our findings are consistent with the idea that for high UC individuals, enacting supportive behaviour, or not enacting unsupportive behaviour, is insufficient to reduce their high levels of depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quality of Life Following Prostate Cancer: The Role of Agency and Unmitigated Agency1

The relations of agency (positive focus on self) and unmitigated agency (focus on self to the exclusion of others) to men's quality of life following prostate cancer was examined. Whereas agency was associated with indicators of a good quality of life, unmitigated agency was associated with indicators of a poor quality of life, particularly more intrusive thoughts about the illness, more depressive symptoms, and worse mental functioning over time. The primary psychological mechanism that explained these relations was reduced self‐efficacy. Unmitigated agency was associated with feeling less capable of controlling the demands the illness imposed. Unmitigated agency also was associated with adverse changes in bowel and urine function; and changes in bowel and urine function explained the relation of unmitigated agency to poor quality of life.     

Men's Adjustment to Prostate Cancer: The Role of Agency and Unmitigated Agency

We examined how two male gender-related traits, agency (focus on self) and unmitigated agency (focus on self to the exclusion of others), were related to physical and emotional functioning in 162 men (92% Caucasian) treated for prostate cancer. As predicted, unmitigated agency was associated with worse functioning and more cancer-related difficulties. By contrast, agency was associated with better functioning and fewer cancer-related difficulties. We tested whether difficulties expressing emotions explained these relations. Unmitigated agency was associated with difficulty expressing emotions, and agency was associated with the ability to express emotions. Structural equation modeling was used to show that emotional expressiveness mediated the relations of unmitigated agency and agency to adjustment to prostate cancer. The implications of these results for interventions to enhance men's adjustment to prostate cancer are discussed.     

The Relationship Between Agentic and Communal Personality Traits and Psychosocial Adjustment to Breast Cancer

Agency, communion, unmitigated agency (UA), and unmitigated communion (UC) are related to psychosocial health outcomes in nonclinical and medical populations. This study examined the relationship between these personality traits and emotional and interpersonal well-being, as up to 50% of women experience difficulties in psychosocial adjustment after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Seventy-four women newly diagnosed with breast cancer completed baseline assessment measures within 2 weeks prior to their first chemotherapy treatment or at the beginning of their hormonal therapy. Findings indicate that (1) agency and UA are important correlates of emotional and interpersonal adjustment and should be considered when attempting to identify women at high risk for psychosocial distress, and (2) UC deserves increased attention in behavioral medicine research, given its strong relationship with emotional distress in a breast cancer population. Thus, evidence continues to accumulate regarding the important relationship of these personality traits to psychosocial outcomes in medical populations.     

A differentiated approach to the link between positive emotion,motivation, and eudaimonic well-being

Many studies have highlighted the role that positive emotions play in promoting eudaimonic well-being, yet often fail to differentiate between discrete positive emotions (e.g. gratitude, compassion, pride, and contentment). As such, potential functional differences among positive emotions in contributing to eudaimonic well-being may have been overlooked. The present study (N = 273) differentiated communion from agency motivation as well as other-focused from self-focused eudaimonic well-being. In line with a hypothesized model, pride contributed positively to self-focused eudaimonic well-being indirectly via agency motivation, and contentment was directly linked positively to self-focused eudaimonic well-being. Compassion contributed positively to other-focused eudaimonic well-being indirectly via communion motivation and gratitude was directly linked positively to other-focused eudaimonic well-being. While several other links were observed, hypothesized links were generally stronger. These findings highlight the potential utility of adopting approaches that differentiate among positive emotions in applied and theoretical work in the field of positive psychology.