Let's talk about us: Attachment,relationship‐focused disclosure,and relationship quality

This research tested whether attachment avoidance and anxiety were associated with couples' (N = 59) disclosure during recorded discussions of recent events. The links between attachment and disclosure with relationship quality across 1 year were also assessed. Attachment was not associated with amount or intimacy of disclosure, but greater attachment anxiety was associated with more relationship‐focused disclosure, whereas attachment avoidance was associated with less relationship‐focused disclosure. Relationship‐focused disclosure was also positively associated with relationship quality across time, whereas attachment avoidance predicted lower relationship quality. These findings indicate that spontaneous relationship‐focused disclosure during routine conversations helps maintain relationships, but because people high in avoidance are less focused on sustaining closeness, their relationships tend to deteriorate over time.     

The Structure and Phenomenon of Sexual Harassment: Impact of Category of Sexually Harassing Behavior, Gender, and Hierarchical Level

Several researchers (Fitzgerald & Hesson-Mclnnes, 1989; Padgitt & Padgitt, 1986; Till, 1980) have suggested that the construct of sexual harassment is multidimensional and consists of five categories of behavior: gender harassment, seductive behavior, sexual bribery, sexual coercion, and sexual assault. Unfortunately, these categories have not been considered in studies investigating the nature and correlates of perceptions of sexual harassment. This paper presents a study that examined the impact of three factors–categories of sexually harassing behavior, gender of subjects, and hierarchical level of the initiator relative to the recipient–on subjects' perceptions of sexual harassment. The results indicated that gender and hierarchical level influenced the perceptions of two categories of sexual harassment–gender harassment and seductive behavior–but did not influence perceptions of sexual bribery, sexual coercion, and sexual assault. Implications for future research and organizational policies are discussed.