Suchergebnisse

In this study, 72 women wrote eight emails over the course of a month discussing one of two topics: (a) non-emotional events (i.e., control condition), or (b) their thoughts and feelings regarding their current romantic relationship. Some of the latter group received feedback on what they had written, whereas others kept their narratives more private. Participants who wrote about their relationships differed from those in the control condition on a variety of dimensions; they used different words (e.g., words related to positive and negative emotions, cognitive mechanisms), they perceived their narratives differently (e.g., more self-disclosing) and they found the experience of participating in the study more valuable. Very few significant differences emerged between the narratives of those who received feedback vs. those who did not. Overall, whether a woman anticipates receiving feedback on her relationship narrative does not appear to have a substantial influence on its content, style or depth of emotional disclosure and processing.

AbstractIndividuals in mixed‐sex (n = 248) and same‐sex (n = 159) romantic relationships completed several online questions for each member of their social network, including the member's perceived support for their romantic relationship. Those in same‐sex relationships perceived less support for their relationship, but only from family members, not from friends. Levels of relationship support were lower among subjectively more distant network members than among closer network members. As hypothesized, associations between perceived support for the relationship and relationship, mental, and physical well‐being were weaker for those in same‐sex compared to mixed‐sex relationships. Principles of social network management and attributional ambiguity were used to explain the findings.

From an insider's perspective, this is an examination of married couples' own stories of their relationship. A representative sample of 199 African-American and 177 white married couples were asked to tell the story of their relationship, and their tales are systematically analysed by the authors

Research has established that social support for relationships is an important predictor of well‐being. However, the underlying assumption that social support specifically for relationships is a separate construct from general social support has not been properly tested empirically, nor has the question of whether support processes vary by source (friends vs. family). The current study (N = 1,281) used confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to address these issues. Support was found for a theoretical model in which social support specifically for relationships predicts relationship well‐being and, in turn, mental and physical health, even while controlling for general social support. Somewhat different patterns were found by source of support (family vs. friends) and by relationship type (same sex vs. mixed sex).

AbstractIs the perception that a social network member (SNM, i.e., friend or family member) disapproves of your romantic relationship associated with perceived changes in emotional closeness to that person? This question was investigated using an online survey (N = 703). Participants reported their current closeness to a disapproving SNM, and retrospectively rated closeness before the disapproval and at the height of disapproval. As predicted, perceiving disapproval was associated with a drop in recalled emotional closeness to the SNM, with stronger disapproval associated with a steeper drop. Closeness recovered somewhat after the point of strongest disapproval, but not nearly to its original level. Analyses on a smaller sample of matched dyads (N = 42) suggested this pattern was identical from the SNM's perspective. The recalled trajectory was moderated by SNM group (i.e., family/friend) and by relationship type (mixed‐sex/same‐sex, and age‐discrepant/similar‐age, but not mixed‐race/same‐race). We discuss implications for those in close relationships and their friends/family members.

This study examined the normative temporal sequence of the coping process and whether stressor severity or adult attachment styles moderated that sequence. Participants (N = 75) described a minor or a major stressor. They were given a stack of index cards, representing coping strategies from five different domains. They selected strategies they had employed and sorted them into the order used. Overall, support from partner was one of the first coping techniques used. Adult attachment styles moderated the coping sequence. For major stressors, dismissing attachment predicted later use of support seeking from partner and earlier use of distancing coping, while preoccupied attachment predicted earlier use of emotion‐focused coping.

AbstractDo avoidantly attached individuals, with fears of closeness and dependency, expect their relationships to fail? Moreover, do they expect specific events that will lead to failure? Canadian students outlined their expectations for a new romantic relationship by ordering a series of dating events using a card sorting procedure. Avoidance was associated with both expectations of relationship failure and commitment aversion (the absence of positive commitment‐enhancing events and presence of negative commitment‐undermining events). Commitment aversion mediated the relationship between avoidance and expected failure, and a multiple mediation model showed unique paths for positive and negative events. This suggests that avoidantly attached individuals enter into new relationships with detailed scripts for commitment aversion that lead them to expect relationship failure.