The influence of personal,relational, and contextual factors on forgiveness communication following transgressions

The way that individuals adapt to stress in their romantic relationships plays a major role in determining relational satisfaction. This study used the Vulnerability‐Stress‐Adaptation Model as a framework to examine how individuals adapt to a relational transgression in their romantic relationships. This study examined individuals' attachment dimensions and perceived relational equity as factors that influenced how they used forgiveness strategies following a relational transgression. The results revealed that both attachment dimensions and perceptions of relational equity inform our understanding of the strategies that individuals use to communicate forgiveness to a romantic relationship partner. Furthermore, the results suggest that the communication of forgiveness has important implications for relational satisfaction.     

Premarital affect as a predictor of postnuptial marital satisfaction

Although well established with newlywed couples, studies examining the association between affective communication during conflict and later relationship satisfaction yield inconsistent results with premarital samples. The current study reexamined this association with a different method of coding affect observed during discussions of separate male‐ and female‐selected problem topics and contemporary methods for modeling dyadic data. The sample included 32 engaged couples assessed across the transition to marriage. Premarital affect correlated with concurrent and postnuptial relationship satisfaction. Men's and women's premarital affect also predicted changes in women's relationship satisfaction across the transition to marriage when controlling for cohabitation, length of the assessment interval, and age. Implications are discussed in the context of prominent developmental models of marriage and current premarital interventions.     

THE EFFECTS OF INTERRATER AND SELF-OTHER AGREEMENT ON PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT FOLLOWING UPWARD FEEDBACK

This study investigated (a) whether performance improvement following upward feedback is related to self-other rating discrepancies, (b) how self-ratings change after feedback, and (c) whether agreement among raters influences performance improvement. Self-ratings and subordinate ratings were collected from 1,888 managers at 2 points in time 1 year apart. Using polynomial regression equations, we determined that managers who overrated themselves relative to how others rated them tended to improve their performance from 1 year to the next, and underraters tended to decline. This is consistent with what would be predicted by self-consistency theory (Korman, 1976). Self-ratings tended to decrease for overraters and increase for underraters, but this effect was not constant throughout the range of self-ratings. Agreement among subordinate raters was negatively related to performance improvement, but this is likely a reflection of differential regression to the mean.     

Looking deeper: Extradyadic behaviors,jealousy, and perceived unfaithfulness in hypothetical dating relationships

This report expands on past research dealing with extradyadic (ED) relations in dating relationships by examining behaviors beyond those of a strictly sexual or romantic nature that college-age men and women consider to be unfaithful. Undergraduates (N= 219) from a U.S. university rated a hypothetical partner's ED sexual behavior, sexual fantasies, romantic attachments, flirting, group, and dyadic social activities including a member of the other gender outside the primary dating relationship as a function of relationship stage. Men and women rated all the ED behaviors as jealousy provoking except group social activities, and rated all the behaviors as unfaithful except dyadic and group social activities. Women reported greater jealousy than did men in response to a hypothetical partner's sexual fantasies, romantic attachments, and flirting behavior. Women also reported a hypothetical partner's romantic attachments and flirting behavior as more unfaithful than did men. Results are discussed in terms of support for evolutionary theory and the need to acknowledge environmental factors in examining gender differences.     

THE VALIDITY OF A MEASURE OF JOB COMPATIBILITY IN THE PREDICTION OF JOB PERFORMANCE AND TURNOVER OF MOTION PICTURE THEATER PERSONNEL

The predictive validity of a measure of job compatibility was studied for theater personnel. Scores on a forced-choice instrument, developed from the Job Compatibility Questionnaire (JCQ), predicted employee performance (r = .22, p< .05), turnover (r = -.35, p< .01), and scores on a "value composite" (reflecting a combination of job performance and employee retention criteria) as defined by the research sponsor (P = .41, p< .01). Furthermore, job compatibility scores explained a statistically significant increment in turnover and value composite score variance when analyzed concomitantly with verbal and numerical ability test scores. Finally, job compatibility scores were shown to be nonredundant with hiring decisions based on an application review, reference check, and interview, whereas the cognitive ability test scores shared considerable redundancy with hiring decisions based on the current selection system.