Responsiveness

If You Shared My Happiness, You Are Part of Me: Capitalization and the Experience of Couple Identity

The way in which individuals react to a partner's disclosure of positive news (capitalization response) is associated with relational well-being. Two studies analyzed the role of couple identity in explaining the association between perceived capitalization responses and relationship quality. A daily diary study (n = 90 couples) revealed that on days people perceived their partners' responses as active-constructive, they reported higher levels of couple identity. A longitudinal two-wave study (n = 169 couples) showed that couple identity mediated the link between active-constructive (for both women and men) and passive-destructive responses (only for men) and relationship quality. Overall, our findings suggest that the experience of the partner's involvement and support in good times contribute to a sense of couple identity, which over the long turn, is associated with partners' relational well-being.

Close Relationships and Health: The Interactive Effect of Positive and Negative Aspects

Most health research focuses on the independent associations of positive or negative aspects of close relationships with health outcomes. A small but growing literature has begun to examine interactive effects of positive and negative aspects. These interactive effects frequently predict health independently or above-and-beyond main effects of either the positive or the negative aspects, suggesting unique relationship processes or emergent features of these close relationship patterns. Our goal in this review is to lay out the existing approaches to studying the interactive effects of positive and negative aspects of close relationships, and to review available evidence linking these interactive effects to health outcomes. We conclude by discussing important unresolved issues and highlighting critical directions for future research.

Sexual Behavior Mediates the Relationship Between Sexual Approach Motives and Sexual Outcomes: A Dyadic Daily Diary Study

Recent studies show that sexual approach (SA) motives, i.e., having sex to achieve a positive state such as sexual pleasure, are associated with higher sexual and relationship satisfaction. However, mechanisms linking SA motives to these outcomes are poorly understood, and the important distinction between SA motives that are self-directed (e.g., self-gratification) and other-directed (e.g., pleasing one's partner) has received little empirical attention, particularly in the everyday context of couples' sexuality. The present study focused, at an event level, on the associations between self-directed and other-directed SA motives, and sexual satisfaction and perceived partner responsiveness (PPR, an aspect of relationship intimacy). We also examined the mediating role of the couple's sexual behavior in these associations. Data were collected over a month-long daily diary study involving 35 newlywed heterosexual couples and analyzed using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model. Results showed that men and women's self-directed SA motives were associated with their own higher sexual satisfaction and, in men, with their female partners' sexual satisfaction as well. For both men and women, these associations were mediated by sexual behavior: Self-directed SA motives were associated with more genitally focused sexual behavior (e.g., vaginal intercourse, oral sex), in turn associated with higher sexual satisfaction. For men, other-directed SA motives were associated with their own greater PPR and with that of their female partners. For women, self-directed SA motives were associated with their own greater PPR and with that of their male partners. Sexual behavior did not mediate associations with PPR. Theoretically, these findings support dyadic models of sexual satisfaction and intimacy and indicate that self-directed SA motives may be more important to sexual satisfaction than other-directed motives. Clinically, they support sex therapy approaches that integrate both partners and suggest that sexual motives and behavior may be relevant targets for intervention.

Explicit Stress Communication Facilitates Perceived Responsiveness in Dyadic Coping

The present study was aimed at examining the role of explicit stress communication in the context of dyadic coping. The general aim of the present study was to test (a) whether explicit communication of daily stressful events predicted relationship satisfaction and (b) whether the perception of responsiveness in dyadic coping mediated the association between explicit stress communication and partners' satisfaction. We analyzed daily diary data from 55 married couples and multilevel analyses suggested that, although explicit stress communication was not associated with relationship satisfaction, it predicted both partners' responsiveness in dyadic coping behaviors. Finally, responsive dyadic coping behaviors mediated the relationship between explicit stress communication and relationship satisfaction. On the whole, our findings showed that perceived responsiveness in dyadic coping with daily stressors was facilitated by explicit stress communication and that this contributed to the effectiveness of dyadic coping behaviors in fostering partners' relationship satisfaction. We discussed how the current study contributes to the understanding of the dyadic coping process and its contribution to partners' satisfaction, underscoring the importance of communication skills.

The Roles of Communal Motivation in Daily Prosocial Behaviors: A Dyadic Experience-Sampling Study

Close relationship partners are communally motivated to engage in prosocial behaviors that can promote each other’s well-being. It remains largely unexplored how both members’ communal motivations jointly shape the daily enactment of prosocial behaviors. This dyadic experience-sampling study aimed to partially fill this gap by studying whether both members’ communal motivations predict (a) the base rate of the actor’s prosocial behaviors, (b) the actor’s reciprocity to the partner’s earlier prosocial behaviors, and (c) the consistency of the actor’s enactment of prosocial behaviors, within a day. Actor–partner interdependence analyses showed that the base rate of prosocial behaviors was positively associated with both members’ communal motivations. Consistency was only associated with the actor’s communal motivation, while reciprocity was not related to either member’s communal motivation. We also explored participants’ rationale for the enacted behaviors. Implications regarding the roles of communal motivation in daily relational functions were discussed.

Neural detection of socially valued community members

As people form social groups, they benefit from being able to detect socially valuable community members-individuals who act prosocially, support others, and form strong relationships. Multidisciplinary evidence demonstrates that people indeed track others' social value, but the mechanisms through which such detection occurs remain unclear. Here, we combine social network and neuroimaging analyses to examine this process. We mapped social networks in two freshman dormitories (n = 97), identifying how often individuals were nominated as socially valuable (i.e., sources of friendship, empathy, and support) by their peers. Next, we scanned a subset of dorm members ("perceivers"; n = 50) as they passively viewed photos of their dormmates ("targets"). Perceiver brain activity in regions associated with mentalizing and value computation differentiated between highly valued targets and other community members but did not differentiate between targets with middle versus low levels of social value. Cross-validation analysis revealed that brain activity from novel perceivers could be used to accurately predict whether targets viewed by those perceivers were high in social value or not. These results held even after controlling for perceivers' own ratings of closeness to targets, and even though perceivers were not directed to focus on targets' social value. Overall, these findings demonstrate that individuals spontaneously monitor people identified as sources of strong connection in the broader community.

Linguistic Synchrony Predicts the Immediate and Lasting Impact of Text-Based Emotional Support

Emotional support is critical to well-being, but the factors that determine whether support attempts succeed or fail are incompletely understood. Using data from more than 1 million support interactions enacted within an online environment, we showed that emotional-support attempts are more effective when there is synchrony in the behavior of support providers and recipients reflective of shared psychological understanding. Benefits of synchrony in language used and semantic content conveyed were apparent in immediate measures of support impact (recipient ratings of support effectiveness and expressions of gratitude), as well as delayed measures of lasting change in the emotional impact of stressful life situations (recipient ratings of emotional recovery made at a 1-hr delay). These findings identify linguistic synchrony as a process underlying successful emotional support and provide direction for future work investigating support processes enacted via linguistic behaviors.

Who Cares? Effects of Social Approach and Avoidance Motivation on Responsiveness to Others

Responsiveness to others (i.e., our understanding, validation, and support of important aspects of others) significantly contributes to positive social relationships. In the present research, we found evidence that responsiveness has motivational origins. In two experiments, participants who were approaching positive social outcomes had a higher level of responsiveness compared with participants who were avoiding negative social outcomes. A third experiment disentangled the roles of motivation and situation valence. Positive (compared with negative) social situations were associated with higher approach motivation, lower avoidance motivation, and a higher level of responsiveness. However, within a given situation, both approach and avoidance motivation were associated with a higher level of responsiveness. This association was even stronger in negative situations, suggesting that both approach and avoidance motivation might be ways of behaving responsively in potentially difficult social situations. The effects were independent of relationship closeness and partly weaker in older compared with younger adults.

Motives for Social Isolation Following a Negative Emotional Episode

Abstract. After experiencing an emotional event, people either seek out others’ presence (social affiliation) or avoid others’ presence (social isolation). The determinants and effects of social affiliation are now well-known, but social psychologists have not yet thoroughly studied social isolation. This study aims to ascertain which motives and corresponding regulation strategies participants report for social isolation following negative emotional events. A group of 96 participants retrieved from memory an actual negative event that led them to temporarily socially isolate themselves and freely listed up to 10 motives for social isolation. Through semantic categorization of the 423 motives reported by the participants, we found that “cognitive clarification” and “keeping one’s distance” – that is, the need for cognitive regulation and the refusal of socioaffective regulation, respectively – were the most commonly and quickly reported motives for social isolation. We discuss the findings in terms of ideas for future studies aimed at clarifying the role of social isolation in health situations.

Epistemic companions: shared reality development in close relationships

We propose a framework outlining the development of shared reality in close relationships. In this framework, we attempt to integrate disparate close relationship phenomena under the conceptual umbrella of shared reality. We argue that jointly satisfying epistemic needs-making sense of the world together-plays an important but under-appreciated role in establishing and maintaining close relationships. Specifically, we propose that dyads progress through four cumulative phases in which new forms of shared reality emerge. Relationships are often initiated when people discover Shared Feelings, which then facilitate the co-construction of dyad-specific Shared Practices. Partners then form an interdependent web of Shared Coordination and ultimately develop a Shared Identity. Each emergent form of shared reality continues to evolve throughout subsequent phases, and, if neglected, can engender relationship dissolution.

Intervening Earlier: An Upstream Approach to Improving Relationship Quality

Relationship quality has far-reaching consequences for health and well-being. To date, large-scale efforts to improve relationship quality have targeted established relationships. However, a novel approach would be to target relationships much earlier. Investment-based programs would intervene (on a voluntary basis) before partners become strongly tied to one another (i.e., within the first few months of “official” dating) and help people to avoid investing in relationships that they might later decide are wrong for them. Selection-based programs would intervene before an official dating relationship has formed, perhaps by helping people to identify especially compatible partners from within their network of friends and acquaintances. To develop such interventions, researchers must (a) identify when important relationship experiences (e.g., perceived responsiveness, capitalization, and sexual satisfaction) become reliably predictive of long-term outcomes and (b) identify how this information could be better incorporated into early relationship decisions. Overall, efforts to facilitate the initial formation and development of high-quality relationships may hold promising, untested potential.

Partner unmitigated communion moderates communal coping benefits in type 2 diabetes

The study goal was to determine whether partner's level of unmitigated communion moderated the relation of partner communal coping to patient health. Couples in which one person was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (n = 123) were interviewed separately and asked to discuss a diabetes-related problem. Communal coping behavior (from videotaped discussions) interacted with partner communal coping, such that partner communal coping was related to lower patient distress, higher patient self-efficacy, and higher patient medication adherence only when partners scored lower on unmitigated communion. The extent to which perceived emotional responsiveness and overprotective behavior mediated these relations was explored.

Protective Processes Underlying the Links between Marital Quality and Physical Health

Although the links between marital quality and physical health are now well established, the psychological processes through which marriage impacts health remain unclear. Additionally, prior research on the links between marriage and health has focused mainly on how negative aspects of relationships (e.g., conflict, hostility) can be damaging to one's physical health. In this article, we describe the strength and strain model of marital quality and health, which provides a roadmap for studying protective factors underlying marriage-health links. We home in one relationship process-partner responsiveness-and one broad class of psychological mechanisms-affective processes-to illustrate core aspects of the model. Our review suggests that future research will profit from a greater integration of theory from the social psychology of close relationships into studies of relationships and health.

Weathering the storm? The impact of trauma on romantic relationships

The current paper reviews the recent literature examining the impact of trauma on romantic relationships. We introduce the Dyadic Responses to Trauma (DRT) Model as a framework for organizing existing research and guiding future research. A traumatic event affects romantic relationships for the better or for the worse depending on the diverse trauma-related experiences people can have, influencing the way partners interact with each other and ultimately the quality of the relationship. In addition, recent research demonstrates how romantic partners can demonstrate resiliency in spite of a negative trauma experience depending on how they interpret and cope with the experience individually and as a couple.

Is Empathic Accuracy Enough to Facilitate Responsive Behavior in Dyadic Interaction? Distinguishing Ability From Motivation

Growing evidence suggests that interpersonal responsiveness—feeling understood, validated, and cared for by other people—plays a key role in shaping the quality of one’s social interactions and relationships. But what enables people to be interpersonally responsive to others? In the current study, we argued that responsiveness requires not only accurate understanding but also compassionate motivation. Specifically, we hypothesized that understanding another person’s thoughts and feelings (empathic accuracy) would foster responsive behavior only when paired with benevolent motivation (empathic concern). To test this idea, we asked couples ( N = 91) to discuss a personal or relationship stressor; we then assessed empathic accuracy, empathic concern, and responsive behavior. As predicted, when listeners’ empathic concern was high, empathic accuracy facilitated responsiveness; but when empathic concern was low, empathic accuracy was unhelpful (and possibly harmful) for responsiveness. These findings provide the first evidence that cognitive and affective forms of empathy work together to facilitate responsive behavior.