A Test of Positive Illusions Versus Shared Reality Models of Relationship Satisfaction Among Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Couples

According to the positive illusions model ( Murray, Holmes, & Griffin, 1996a ), people in romantic relationships are more satisfied when they view their partners more favorably than the partners see themselves. By contrast, shared reality theory ( Hardin & Conley, 2001 ) emphasizes the benefits of perceiving a partner as the partner sees himself or herself. We analyzed archived data from the American Couples Study ( Blumstein & Schwartz, 1983 ) to test the applicability of the positive illusions model to gay and lesbian relationships. Structural equation models demonstrated that the positive illusions model effectively explains relationships among lesbian, gay, heterosexual cohabitating, and married couples.     

Trust and Satisfaction in Adult Child–Mother (And Other) Relationships

We examined relationships between adult children and their mothers from a relational perspective. We investigated positive regard for mother relationships versus other dyadic relationships and the role that trust plays in fostering satisfaction in these relationships. In Study 1, undergraduates completed surveys about their relationships with their mothers. Trust was the strongest predictor of satisfaction in participants’ relationships with their moms. In Study 2, adults older than 25 completed questions about their satisfaction with their relationships with their mothers. Participants were more satisfied with and more trusting of their mothers than of anyone other than their best friends. Trust was again the most important predictor of satisfaction in relationships with mothers (as well as in several other relationships).     

Engagement Agents in the Making: On the Front Lines of Socio-Technical Integration

This commentary builds on Haico te Kulve and Arie Rip’s (2011) notion of “engagement agents,” individuals that must be able to move between multiple dimensions, or “levels” of research, innovation, and policy processes. The commentary compares and contrasts the role of the engagement agent within the Constructive Technology Assessment and integration approaches, and suggests that on-site integration research represents one way to transform both social and natural scientists into competent and informed “engagement agents,” a new generation of researchers that possess the knowledge and capacities to forge “novel linkages” between the oftentimes disparate terrains of science, politics, and policy.     

An investigation of the partial-assignment completion effect on students' assignment choice behavior

This study was designed to investigate the partial assignment completion effect. Seventh-grade students were given a math assignment. After working for 5 min, they were interrupted and their partially completed assignments were collected. About 20 min later, students were given their partially completed assignment and a new, control assignment that contained the same number of equivalent problems that were incomplete on their partially completed assignment. Students were told that they would have to complete an assignment but could choose which assignment they completed. Significantly more students chose their partially completed assignment. Theoretical and applied implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Tutor,salon, convent: the formation of women philosophers in early modern France

ABSTRACT

Excluded from the university, women authors in early modern France acquired their philosophical culture from other venues. The tutorial, the salon, and the convent school are three of the era’s most prominent institutions involved in the development of this philosophical culture for women. The writings of the poet Madame Deshoulières, the salonnière Madame de Sablé, and the abbess Angélique de Saint-Jean Arnauld d’Andilly illustrate how these institutions shaped their respective philosophical interests and imparted a particular style and set of thematic concerns to their philosophical works.