When "negative" behaviors are positive: a contextual analysis of the long-term effects of problem-solving behaviors on changes in relationship satisfaction

A day in the life: Couples' everyday communication and subsequent relationship outcomes

Understanding how communication processes contribute to well-functioning versus distressed couple relationships has relied largely on brief, laboratory-based conversations. Harnessing technological advancements, the present study extends the literature by capturing couples' naturalistic communication over one full day at Time 1 (T1). This study tested associations between data-driven categories of couple communication behaviors and relationship outcomes (i.e., relationship aggression, satisfaction, and dissolution) at Time 2 (T2), approximately 1 year later. Emerging adults in different-gender dating couples (n = 106 couples; 212 individuals; Mage = 22.57 ± 2.44; M relationship length = 30.49 months ± 24.05; 72.2% non-White) were each provided a smartphone programmed to audio record approximately 50% of a typical day. Interactions between partners were transcribed and coded for location, activity, affect, and a range of positive and negative communication behaviors for each partner. Even after controlling for T1 assessments of the relevant outcome, one's own hostility and one's partner's hostility at T1 were each positively associated with T2 relationship aggression and negatively associated with T2 relationship satisfaction. One's own withdrawal at T1 was positively associated with T2 relationship aggression perpetration, whereas one's partner's withdrawal was negatively linked to relationship satisfaction at T2. One's own playfulness, unexpectedly, was linked to lower subsequent relationship satisfaction. Withdrawal increased the likelihood of relationship dissolution, whereas warmth and playfulness decreased the likelihood of dissolution. The relevance of couples' ordinary, everyday communication for meaningful relationship outcomes is discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Evlilik Çatışma Alanları İndeksi ve Çatışma Çözme Stilleri Envanteri’nin Geliştirilmesi: Geçerlik ve Güvenirlik Çalışmaları

The purpose of this study is to develop the Conflict Areas Index (CAI) to identify possible conflict areas that couples experience in their marriages and to develop the Conflict Styles Inventory (CSI) to assess how they deal with these conflicts. Exploratory (N=374) and confirmatory (N=152) factor analysis and test-retest (N=49) examinations were conducted with a sample of 575 married individuals in total. For the first scale, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to examine the construct validity of the CAI. According to the results, a single component giving frequency values for 15 different conflict areas was identified. In the criterion-related validity studies, the scale had a significant, negative, and strong correlation with the Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS) (r=-.72) and the level of satisfaction with the relationship (r=-.67). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was found as .91. For the second scale, the construct validity of the CSI was examined using Exploratory Factor Analysis. The results revealed a three-dimensional structure named destructive, passive, and active conflict resolution styles. In the criterion-related validity studies, it was found significant and positive correlations between destructive (r=.14) and passive (r=.18) conflict resolution styles with CAI scores and a significant and negative correlation between active resolution style with CAI scores. In addition, there were significant and negative correlations between destructive (r=-.15) and passive (r=-.12) conflict resolution styles with the RAS scores and a significant and positive correlation between active conflict resolution style with the RAS scores. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients were .88, .87, and .87 for destructive, passive, and active conflict resolution styles, respectively. The correlation values between the scores of the CSI within a 14-day time interval were ⍴=.94, ⍴=.91, and ⍴=.83 for destructive, passive, and active conflict resolution styles, respectively. These results indicated that CAI and CSI have sufficient psychometric properties that can be used to assess conflict areas and conflict resolution styles of married individuals.

Subjective emotion trajectories in couple therapy and associations with improvement in relationship satisfaction

Existing couple therapies are generally effective for reducing romantic relationship distress and divorce, but therapy outcomes remain poor for many. Outcomes can be improved through greater understanding of session-by-session therapeutic processes, particularly in real-world treatment settings. Modern couple therapy models commonly emphasize the importance of emotional experiences as key change processes, yet few empirical studies have tested the merits of this focus. The present study addresses this limitation by examining trajectories of subjective emotions and their association with change in a key relationship outcome, relationship satisfaction, among military veterans and their partners at a VA Medical Center. Partners rated their relationship satisfaction prior to couple therapy sessions and subjective emotions immediately after sessions. Consistent with hypotheses, both hard (e.g., anger) and soft (e.g., sadness) negative emotions decreased significantly over the course of therapy. Those couples with greater decreases in hard negative, but not soft negative, emotions showed significantly more improvement in relationship satisfaction. Positive emotions did not significantly change across couples in general, but those couples whose positive emotions did increase also showed more improvement in relationship satisfaction. These results suggest change in subjective emotions may be one process underlying improvement in couple therapy and lend empirical support to the emphasis on emotion-based change processes underlying acceptance-based and emotion-focused couple therapies.

Social anhedonia, communication, and marital satisfaction in newlywed couples

OBJECTIVE

Social anhedonia is associated with disinterest in social interactions and poor relationship functioning, yet little is known about the specific mechanisms underlying associations between social anhedonia and romantic relationship behaviors and satisfaction. We examined the links between social anhedonia, perceptions of conflict communication patterns, and marital satisfaction.

METHOD

The current research examined the role of social anhedonia on marital quality and functioning longitudinally across a year in a sample of 100 newlywed couples using an actor-partner interdependence framework.

RESULTS

Social anhedonia was negatively associated with own and partner's marital satisfaction. It was also negatively associated with constructive communication and positively associated with destructive communication. Furthermore, cross-sectional mediation analyses showed that communication patterns mediated the social anhedonia-satisfaction link.

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, these findings suggest that social anhedonia is likely to lead to lower marital satisfaction, partly through its effect on communication between partners.

"We can work it out": positive problem solving as a mediator between perspective-taking and relationship satisfaction among college students

Objective: The present study aimed to examine the role of positive problem solving in the relation between perspective taking and relationship satisfaction.Participants: One hundred and four college students participated in the present study, if they had been in a romantic relationship for a minimum of six months.Methods: Participants completed measures of relationship satisfaction, perspective-taking relative to romantic couples, and of positive problem-solving in couples.Results: As predicted, both perspective-taking and positive problem-solving were significantly related to relationship satisfaction. In addition, positive problem-solving emerged as a significant partial mediator of the relation between perspective-taking and relationship satisfaction.Conclusions: The benefits of skills training in the areas of perspective-taking and problem-solving in college student health and functioning are discussed.

The roles of self-regulation and partner regulation on romantic relationship quality

Research into self-regulation and partner regulation strategies has largely involved parallel lines of research, thus, it is difficult to determine the relative contribution of both forms of regulation when it comes to relationship outcomes. Therefore, the question remains as to which form of regulation is more strongly associated with relationship quality; is it more important to focus on adaptive self-regulation or adaptive strategies to regulate one's partner? The current research addresses this important gap by comparing the relative associations of adaptive self-regulation and adaptive partner regulation strategies on romantic relationship quality. A community sample of mixed gender couples (N = 114) who were predominantly satisfied with their current relationships - but nonetheless still experienced relationship conflict - were administered self-report assessments of various self-regulation and partner regulation strategies as well as a measure of relationship quality. Couples also participated in a videotaped discussion of an unresolved relationship issue that was scored by trained coders for verbal and nonverbal indicators of self-regulation and partner regulation strategies. Actor-partner interdependence modeling revealed that for both men and women, adaptive self-regulation strategies were positively associated with their own evaluations of relationship quality as well as their partner's relationship quality. In contrast, engaging in adaptive partner regulation strategies was not significantly associated with men's or women's own, or their partner's relationship quality. Findings highlight the importance of focusing on self-regulation in relationships, as it is these strategies, over partner regulation strategies, that have more positive implications for the relationship quality experienced by typically satisfied couples.

Darling, Come Lay with Me or Talk with Me: Perceived Mattering and the Complementary Association between Sex and Communication within Marital Relationships

According to the theories on interpersonal mattering, reciprocal interactions and mutual engagements facilitate the formation of interpersonal mattering within relationships. However, the theoretical framework on mattering has rarely been applied to understand the roles of sexual and verbal exchanges within intimate relationships. To fill this research gap, the authors proposed that heightened perception of mattering captures the common mechanism through which both frequent sex and communication predict greater marital satisfaction. Building on this perspective, the study examined whether frequent sex and communication can compensate for the other in predicting marital satisfaction by sustaining the sense of mattering between spouses. Two survey studies were conducted using cross-cultural online samples (Study 1: Nkorean = 307 and NAmerican = 277) and a community sample of married dyads (Study 2: N = 286). Across these samples, the results demonstrated that the perceived sense of mattering to spouse mediated the effects of both sexual frequency and communication quantity on the couples' overall satisfaction with their marriage. Moreover, the results of the moderated mediation analyses supported the hypothesis that sexual frequency and communication quantity can moderate the effects of the other on marital satisfaction by providing a buffer on the couples' perceived sense of mattering to spouse.

Holding on & letting go: romantic attachment and fading affect bias

The current research examined the phenomenon of fading affect bias - the tendency for affect associated with negative events to fade more than affect associated with positive events - within the context of romantic relationships. Participants recalled and evaluated positive and negative relationship-specific and non-relationship autobiographical events. Participants also completed measures of attachment avoidance and anxiety. Multi-level modeling demonstrated fading affect bias for relationship and non-relationship events, but that affect fade was shaped by attachment orientations. Specifically, higher attachment anxiety, and lower attachment avoidance predicted greater importance of relationship events which predicted lower fading of affective intensity of memories. Thus, attachment anxiety sustained, while attachment avoidance suppressed the affect of relational memories. We discuss implications of these findings for relationship maintenance.

Eyes Fixed on Heaven's Gate: An Empirical Examination of Blink Rate and Suicide

Anecdotal and theoretical work suggests blink rate as an indicator of imminent suicide risk. We sought to empirically examine whether suicide decedents displayed a reduced blink rate in goodbye videos filmed before death, compared to several control groups. Independent raters coded blink rates from videos of 34 suicide decedents and four comparison groups: "mundane" product review, non-suicidal arousal, non-suicidal depression, and non-imminent risk of suicidal ideation. Mean blink rate was lower in the suicide decedent group relative to all comparison groups (ps < .001), except the depressed (p = .976) and suicidal ideation (p = .393) groups. Findings indicate blink rate may be reduced among individuals at imminent risk for suicide, exhibiting clinically-significant depressive symptoms, or experiencing suicidal ideation.

But What's Your Partner Up to? Associations Between Relationship Quality and Pornography Use Depend on Contextual Patterns of Use Within the Couple

It is commonly assumed that exposure to pornography harms relationships because pornography changes the way that individuals think, feel, and behave in problematic ways. In the current research, we contribute to a small but growing body of work that challenges this assumption by carefully scrutinizing the relational context of pornography use. In contrast to dominant theoretical explanations in this field, we argue that at least some of the apparent negative “impacts” of pornography use on relationship quality may reflect partner dissimilarity in pornography use behavior rather than the consequences of exposure to such materials. Moreover, we further examine a particular type of pornography use – shared use with a partner – which previous evidence suggests may be positively associated with relationship quality. To this end, we sought to test whether dyadic patterns of pornography use, and related attributes, were associated with sexual and relationship satisfaction in two cross-sectional (N₁ = 200; N₃ = 207) and two longitudinal (N₂ = 77; N₄ = 277) samples of heterosexual couples. Across these samples, we found consistent evidence that partners who watch pornography together report higher relationship and sexual satisfaction than partners who do not, and notably, this association was not moderated by gender. Independent of this association, we also found evidence of a similarity-dissimilarity effect, such that the solitary pornography use of one partner was negatively associated with their own relationship and sexual satisfaction, but only in cases where their romantic partners used little or no pornography alone. Further consideration of several correlates of pornography use established comparable patterns of results for dissimilarity in attitudes toward pornography, erotophobia-erotophilia, sexual preferences, and sex drive. Importantly, only dissimilarity in sex drive statistically accounted for dissimilarity in solitary pornography use, suggesting that differences in sex drive may be implicated in the associations between pornography use and relationship quality. These findings demonstrate that links between pornography use and relationship health are partially a function of different dyadic patterns of pornography use within couples and do not always suggest relational harm.

How both partners' individual differences, stress, and behavior predict change in relationship satisfaction: Extending the VSA model

We pooled data from 10 longitudinal studies of 1,104 married couples to test the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation (VSA) model of change in relationship satisfaction. Studies contained both spouses' self-reports of neuroticism, attachment anxiety, and attachment avoidance; observational measures of engagement and opposition during problem-solving discussions at baseline; and repeated reports of both spouses' stress and marital satisfaction over several years. Consistent with the VSA model, all three individual and partner qualities predicted changes in marital satisfaction that were mediated by observations of behavior and moderated by both partners' experiences with stress. In contrast to the VSA model, however, rather than accentuating the association between individual differences and behavior, both partners' stress moderated the strength, and even direction, of the association between behavior and changes in marital satisfaction over time. Taken together, these findings indicate that 1) qualities of both couple members shape their behavioral exchanges, 2) these behaviors explain how individuals and their partners' enduring qualities predict relationship satisfaction, and 3) stress experienced by both couple members strongly determines how enduring qualities and behavior predict changes in relationship satisfaction over time. The complex interplay among both partners' enduring qualities, stress, and behavior helps explain why studies may fail to document direct main effects of own and partner enduring qualities and behavior on changes in relationship satisfaction over time.

Within-Couple Associations Between Communication and Relationship Satisfaction Over Time

Relationship science contends that the quality of couples’ communication predicts relationship satisfaction over time. Most studies testing these links have examined between-person associations, yet couple dynamics are also theorized at the within-person level: For a given couple, worsened communication is presumed to predict deteriorations in future relationship satisfaction. We examined within-couple associations between satisfaction and communication in three longitudinal studies. Across studies, there were some lagged within-person links between deviations in negative communication to future changes in satisfaction (and vice versa). But the most robust finding was for concurrent within-person associations between negative communication and satisfaction: At times when couples experienced less negative communication than usual, they were also more satisfied with their relationship than was typical. Positive communication was rarely associated with relationship satisfaction at the within-person level. These findings indicate that within-person changes in negative communication primarily covary with, rather than predict, relationship satisfaction.

Elucidating the Effect of Perceived Power on Destructive Responses during Romantic Conflicts

Prior research has indicated that the people one loves the most, such as their romantic partners, ironically, are also the people toward whom they often direct destructive behaviors in times of conflict, and such destructive responses become one of the most challenging relationship problems. Identifying the conditions that promote destructive (vs. constructive) conflict-resolution strategies is a crucial gap requiring study to help individuals build healthier and happier relationships. Across three studies (total N = 728), we examined whether (a) power is related to direct destructive (vs. constructive) responses during romantic conflicts; (b) this effect was moderated by the seriousness of the conflict and the relationship's inclusiveness. In Study 1, participants involved in romantic relationships completed scales assessing interpersonal power, the conflict's seriousness, their relationship's inclusiveness, and conflict-resolution responses. In Studies 2-3, the participants were randomly assigned to complete an essay in which the conflict's seriousness and power were experimentally manipulated. Findings from hierarchical regression analyses consistently showed that power led to destructive (and lower constructive) responses. However, this only occurred when the participants faced severe conflicts and their partner was not central to their self-concept. An internal meta-analysis of the studies confirmed the reliability and significance of these relationships; |r's| =.13-37. Together, these results support the proposition that power asymmetries can threaten relationships by driving destructive responses during romantic conflicts, and untangle the conditions under which this happens. The conflict's seriousness and the inclusiveness of the relationship may be considered to provide skills that help individuals navigate their relationships' life challenges.

Lay Beliefs About Romantic Relationships: A Mediator of the Effect of Family Dysfunction on Romantic Relationship Satisfaction

This paper tested why people differ with regard to whether they believe it is possible to find enduring love. Variations were assumed to be due to differences in people’s experiences. Those who experienced dysfunction in their family of origin and who did not have positive relationships role-modelled to them were expected to be less likely to have positive lay beliefs about romantic relationships. Positive lay beliefs, in turn, were hypothesised to impact on dysfunction in own romantic relationships later on in life, which were in turn expected to affect relationship satisfaction. In other words, positive lay beliefs were tested as one potential mechanism through which family dysfunction whilst growing up impacts on relationship dysfunction in later adult life. This paper presents a pilot study (N = 176) which introduces a measure for ‘positive lay beliefs about romantic relationships’, and finds this measure to be associated, as expected, with dysfunction in the family of origin. The main study (N = 435) then tested the full hypothesised model (family-of-origin dysfunction → positive lay beliefs → romantic relationship dysfunction → relationship satisfaction) with structural equation modelling, and found that the model fitted the data very well, confirming the hypotheses. It was concluded that lay beliefs about whether or not it is possible to find enduring love are an important mediator of the effects of family-of-origin dysfunction on later romantic relationship satisfaction.

The development of communication behavior over the newlywed years

Communication behavior occupies a fundamental role in basic and applied relationship science, yet we know very little about how this important process develops over time, and how the natural developmental process is linked with relationship outcomes. The present study aims to examine the development of naturally occurring trajectories of couple communication behavior across three domains, examined concurrently; positive affect, negative affect, and effective problem solving. A large sample of newlywed couples recruited from low-income neighborhoods (N = 431) completed observational discussion tasks at 4 time points, spanning 2.5 years, and provided data on marital status 4.5 years into marriage. Results from multivariate group-based trajectory modeling indicate that three groups of couples can be distinguished, with the best communicators demonstrating high levels of positivity and effectiveness and low levels of negativity, the worst communicators demonstrating low levels of positivity and effectiveness and high levels of negativity, and the middle group demonstrating low levels of all three dimensions. Trajectory group membership was significantly associated with demographic and relationship characteristics, such that the best communicators had more adaptive relationship characteristics and less demographic risk. Wives' trajectory group membership was significantly associated with divorce rates such that the best communicators had the lowest divorce rate (9%), and the worst communicators had the highest divorce rate (22%). Overall, communication behavior is quite consistent over time, indicating that early interaction dynamics tend to be enduring and predictive of relationship outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploration of a Marital Typology: Implications for Marital Functioning in a Multi-Ethnic Sample

Marital conflict is associated with multiple negative outcomes for couples, including marital dissatisfaction and divorce. Little research, however, has examined conflict in Hispanic/Latino couples or its association with marital satisfaction, which creates an unfortunate knowledge gap for clinicians working with diverse client groups. The present study sought to examine both marital conflict and satisfaction using a sample of 231 European American (EA; n = 108) and Hispanic/Latino (H/L; n = 123) couples. Through observational coding, couples were placed into four groups based on their type of conflict management strategies: Harmonious, Withdrawn, Conflictual-Expressive, or Conflictual-Hostile. For both ethnic groups, couples in the Harmonious group were nondistressed and couples in the Conflictual-Hostile group were in the distressed range of marital satisfaction. Cross-ethnic differences emerged. EA couples experienced distress when both hostile (Conflictual-Hostile) and nonhostile conflict (Conflictual-Expressive) communication types were observed, while only hostile conflict was associated with distress for the H/L group. H/L couples reported similar levels of satisfaction in both the Harmonious and Conflictual-Expressive groups. H/L couples also fell within the distressed range when withdrawn communication patterns were observed; however, this was not the case for EA couples. These differences suggest that both types of conflict are associated with marital distress for EA couples, whereas hostile conflict and withdrawn behavior appear to be more negatively associated with marital satisfaction in H/L couples. Results provide support for the use of an observational coding system with H/L and EA couples and also suggest the importance of understanding how differences in expressions of conflict across ethnicities may relate to marital satisfaction.

When poor communication does and does not matter: The moderating role of stress

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 34(6) of Journal of Family Psychology (see record 2020-62946-001). There are two errors in the last sentence of the fifth paragraph (Model 4: Fluctuations in Cumulative Stress X Fluctuations in Behavior) of the Results section whereby the text "less cumulative stress" and "less stress" should have read "more cumulative stress" and "more stress," respectively. Thus, the correct sentence is as follows: "Specifically, relative increases in observed dyadic negativity were associated with decreases in husbands' relationship satisfaction when husbands also experienced more cumulative stress, whereas decreases in observed negativity in the presence of more stress were associated with increases in husbands' satisfaction (t = -2.00, p = .045, see Figure 1 and Table 2, Model 4)." Note that the findings are correctly stated elsewhere in the article.] Although a number of theoretical perspectives in relationship science argue that variability in couples' relationship satisfaction over time is driven by changes in their communication, tests of this hypothesis have been limited to single assessments of behavior. To address this gap, we examine within-couple, across-time changes in communication, and we argue further that couples' external circumstances might combine with these behavioral changes to generate changes in relationship satisfaction. Using self-reports of satisfaction and in-home observational data collected 4 times at 9-month intervals from 414 newlywed couples, we show that fluctuations in dyadic behavior and spousal stress covary with fluctuations in spousal satisfaction. Tests of the interaction between fluctuations in stress and behavior reveal that husbands who experience upward fluctuations in negativity also experience decreases in relationship satisfaction at the same wave but only if they are concurrently experiencing greater stress than usual. Downward fluctuations in problem-solving effectiveness are associated with lower relationship satisfaction but only among spouses who had chronically high levels of cumulative stress; when chronic stress is low, reduced problem-solving effectiveness is unrelated to satisfaction. Exclusive focus on between-couple variability in couple communication, without regard for the stressors that couples face, will likely restrict the understanding and prevention of relationship distress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The social-safety system: Fortifying relationships in the face of the unforeseeable

A model of the social-safety system is proposed to explain how people sustain a sense of safety in the relational world when they are not able to foresee the behavior of others. In this model, people can escape the acute anxiety posed by agents in their personal relational world behaving unexpectedly (e.g., spouse, child) by defensively imposing well-intentioned motivations on the agents controlling their sociopolitical relational world (e.g., President, Congress). Conversely, people can escape the acute anxiety posed by sociopolitical agents behaving unexpectedly by defensively imposing well-intentioned motivations on the agents controlling their personal relational world. Two daily diary studies, a longitudinal study of the 2018 midterm election, and a 3-year longitudinal study of newlyweds supported the hypotheses. On a daily basis, people who were less certain they could trust their romantic partner defended against acutely unforeseeable behavior in one relational world by affirming faith in the well-intentioned motivations of agents in the alternate world. Moreover, when people were more in the personal daily habit of finding safety in the alternate relational world in the face of the unexpected, those who were initially uncertain they could trust their romantic partner later evidenced greater comfort depending on their personal relationship partners. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

When Tonight Is Not the Night: Sexual Rejection Behaviors and Satisfaction in Romantic Relationships

In most long-term romantic relationships, partners experience sexual conflicts of interest in which one partner declines the other partner’s sexual advances. We investigated the distinct ways people reject a partner’s advances (i.e., with reassuring, hostile, assertive, and deflecting behaviors) in Studies 1 and 2. Using cross-sectional (Study 3) and daily experience methods (Study 4), we investigated how perceptions of a partner’s rejection behaviors are linked with the rejected partner’s relationship and sexual satisfaction. We found robust evidence that perceived partner reassuring behaviors were associated with greater satisfaction, whereas perceived partner hostile behaviors were associated with lower levels of satisfaction. Perceived partner responsiveness was a key mechanism underlying the effects. Findings for assertive and deflecting behaviors were limited, but the effect of deflecting behaviors was qualified by levels of hostile behaviors for sexual satisfaction. Findings provide the first empirical investigation of the specific ways partners can decline one another’s advances to preserve satisfaction.

Research on Marital Satisfaction and Stability in the 2010s: Challenging Conventional Wisdom

Although getting married is no longer a requirement for social acceptance, most people do marry in their lifetimes, and couples across the socioeconomic spectrum wish their marriages to be satisfying and long-lasting. This review evaluates the past decade of research on the determinants of satisfaction and stability in marriage, concluding that the scholarship of the past ten years has undermined three assumptions that were formerly accepted as conventional wisdom. First, research exploiting methods like latent class growth analyses reveal that, for most couples, marital satisfaction does not decline over time but in fact remains relatively stable for long periods. Second, contrary to predictions of behavioral models of marriage, negative communication between spouses can be difficult to change, does not necessarily lead to more satisfying relationships when it is changed, and does not always predict distress in the first place. Third, dyadic processes that are reliably adaptive for middle-class and more affluent couples may operate differently in lower-income couples, suggesting that influential models of marriage may not generalize to couples living in diverse environments. Thus, the accumulated research of the last ten years indicates that the tasks of understanding and promoting marital satisfaction and stability are more complex than we appreciated at the start of the decade, raising important questions that beg to be answered in the years ahead.

The Relationship Problem Solving (RePS) Model: How Partners Influence One Another to Resolve Relationship Problems

In this article, we synthesize existing literatures across numerous domains to introduce a novel model-the Relationship Problem Solving (RePS) model-for understanding the process through which romantic partners influence one another to resolve relationship problems. The first section briefly describes the key constructs and stages of the model. The second section details the interpersonal behaviors that influence various intrapersonal factors (e.g., affect, self-efficacy) that ultimately influence partners' motivation and ability to progress through the stages of the model. The third section uses the model to generate novel predictions that suggest that the effectiveness of these interpersonal behaviors often depends on contextual factors. Finally, the fourth section discusses the implications of this model for understanding relationship problem solving, highlights the need to consider the role of context in the problem-solving process, and offers numerous specific predictions to be addressed by future research.

How Do Couples Disagree? An Analysis of Conflict Resolution Profiles and the Quality of Romantic Relationships

This study aimed to identify conflict resolution profiles and assess relationship quality levels associated with each profile. The participants were 750 heterosexual couples living in southern Brazil. They filled out measures about conflict resolution strategies, relationship quality, and sociodemographic data. A latent profile analysis was conducted in order to classify participants regarding conflict resolution. Variance and association analyses were also conducted in order to examine relationships between the resolution profiles and other study variables. Four profiles were identified: Low Conflict/Withdraw, Validator, Hostile, and Volatile. The Validator profile showed higher relationship quality, followed by Low Conflict/Withdraw and Volatile profiles, which did not differ from each other, and the Hostile, which showed low levels of relationship quality. We conclude that even though validation and negotiation are desirable, emotionally intense strategies may also be beneficial for couples in some contexts.

What Every Therapist Needs to Know About Couple Therapy

This invited paper is a review of the significance of couple relationships to the practice of all therapists. The article begins with a summary of the evidence on the centrality of committed couple relationships to the lives and wellbeing of adults, and the association of the quality of the parents’ couple relationship on the wellbeing of children. We argue that the well-established reciprocal association between individual problems and couple relationship problems means that all therapists need to pay attention to how a couple relationship might be influencing a client's functioning, even if the relationship is not the presenting problem. There is an outline the evolution of current approaches to behavioural couple therapy, and the current state of the art and science of couple therapy. We present an analysis of the evidence for couple therapy as a treatment for relationship distress, as well as couple-based treatments for individual problems. This is followed by a description of the distinctive challenges in working with couples and how to address those challenges, and recommendations about how to address the needs of diverse couple relationships. Finally, we propose some core therapist competencies needed to work effectively with couples.

Communication that is maladaptive for middle-class couples is adaptive for socioeconomically disadvantaged couples

Demands for change in a relationship, particularly when met by behavioral withdrawal, foreshadow declines in relationship satisfaction. Yet demands can give partners opportunities to voice concerns, and withdrawal can serve to de-escalate conflict, stabilizing satisfaction instead (e.g., Overall, Fletcher, Simpson, & Sibley, 2009). We aim to reconcile these competing possibilities by arguing that withdrawal in response to requests for change will be detrimental among couples who possess the social, educational, and economic capital needed to address these requests, whereas withdrawal in response to partner demands will be constructive among couples with fewer resources for making the requested changes. Study 1 (N = 515 couples; 18-month follow-up) replicates the harmful effects of observed demand/withdraw communication on changes in wives' satisfaction among relatively affluent couples, while documenting benefits of demand/withdraw communication among relatively disadvantaged couples. Using 4 waves of observational data, Study 2 (N = 431 couples; 9-, 18- and 27-month follow-ups) shows that socioeconomic risk moderates the covariation between the demand/withdraw pattern and wives' relationship satisfaction, with higher levels of withdrawal again proving to be beneficial when socioeconomic risk is high. In both studies, behavioral withdrawal by men appears to be maladaptive when couples have resources and capacities to enact desired changes, but may be adaptive when those resources and capacities are lacking. Efforts to change couple communication without appreciating the larger social and economic contexts of those behaviors may be counterproductive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Sex differences in testosterone reactivity during marital conflict

When attempting to resolve relationship problems, individuals in close relationships sometimes challenge their partners with statements that oppose their partners' point of view. Such oppositional behaviors may undermine those partners' relational value and threaten their status within the relationship. We examined whether perceptions of opposition from a partner during a series of problem-solving interactions were associated with reactivity in testosterone levels and whether those associations were different for men and women. Fifty newlywed couples discussed four marital problems. Each member of the couple reported how much oppositional behavior they perceived from their partner during the discussions. Pre- and post-discussion saliva samples were assayed for testosterone. For men, but not for women, perceptions of oppositional behavior were associated with heightened testosterone reactivity, and this result replicated across three different measures of testosterone reactivity. Findings were specific to men's perceptions of oppositional behavior, and held controlling for objective measures of oppositional behavior coded from videos of the conversations. Results highlight the benefits of considering pair-bonded relationships as a novel context for investigating associations involving hormones and behavior. Findings also raise the possibility that sex differentiated hormonal reactions to opposition partly explain why conflict among heterosexual partners can be so divisive.

Trauma Symptoms, Communication, and Relationship Satisfaction in Military Couples

Trauma symptoms are negatively correlated with couple relationship satisfaction, which is of particular importance in the relationships of military personnel who are often exposed to trauma whilst on overseas deployment. This study tested a model in which communication mediated an association between trauma symptoms and low relationship satisfaction. Thirty-one Australian military couples were observationally assessed during a communication task, and assessed on their relationship satisfaction and individual functioning. As expected, trauma symptoms in the male military spouse were associated with low satisfaction in both spouses. Females' low positive communication fully mediated the relationship between males' trauma symptoms and low female satisfaction, but not male relationship satisfaction. Unexpectedly, males' negative communication behaviors were associated with high male relationship satisfaction, and partially mediated the association between trauma symptoms and male satisfaction. Discussion focused on how some communication usually thought of as negative might be associated with relationship satisfaction in military couples.

An ecological model of mediators of change in Couple Relationship Education

Couple Relationship Education (RE) seeks to enrich couples' relationships, and assist them to manage stressful life events [1]. In the current paper we present an ecological model of couple relationships intended to guide the practice of RE, analyze the mediators of RE effects, and suggest future research needs to assess moderators and mediators of RE effects in order to enhance the impact of RE.

When power shapes interpersonal behavior: Low relationship power predicts men's aggressive responses to low situational power

When does power in intimate relationships shape important interpersonal behaviors, such as psychological aggression? Five studies tested whether possessing low relationship power was associated with aggressive responses, but (a) only within power-relevant relationship interactions when situational power was low, and (b) only by men because masculinity (but not femininity) involves the possession and demonstration of power. In Studies 1 and 2, men lower in relationship power exhibited greater aggressive communication during couples' observed conflict discussions, but only when they experienced low situational power because they were unable to influence their partner. In Study 3, men lower in relationship power reported greater daily aggressive responses toward their partner, but only on days when they experienced low situational power because they were either (a) unable to influence their partner or (b) dependent on their partner for support. In Study 4, men who possessed lower relationship power exhibited greater aggressive responses during couples' support-relevant discussions, but only when they had low situational power because they needed high levels of support. Study 5 provided evidence for the theoretical mechanism underlying men's aggressive responses to low relationship power. Men who possessed lower relationship power felt less manly on days they faced low situational power because their partner was unwilling to change to resolve relationship problems, which in turn predicted greater aggressive behavior toward their partner. These results demonstrate that fully understanding when and why power is associated with interpersonal behavior requires differentiating between relationship and situational power. (PsycINFO Database Record

Does Partners’ Negative-Direct Communication During Conflict Help Sustain Perceived Commitment and Relationship Quality Across Time?

The current study tested when partners’ negative-direct communication promotes perceived commitment and helps preserve relationship quality and when partners’ negative-direct communication damages perceived commitment and relationship quality. Negative-direct communication was assessed within 322 relationship conflict discussions involving one partner (the agent) wanting change in the other (the target). Perceived commitment and relationship quality were repeatedly assessed across the following year. Greater negative-direct communication by partners as agents of change predicted more positive trajectories of perceived partner commitment and relationship quality across time, whereas greater negative-direct communication by partners targeted for change predicted declines in perceived commitment and relationship quality. These longitudinal effects were magnified for people who initially perceived their partner’s commitment to be low. Thus, partners’ negative-direct communication can help sustain relationship quality when it offers a needed sign of partners’ commitment but has detrimental effects when partners’ negative-direct communication reflects low responsiveness to attempts to improve relationship problems.

Sex Differences in Associations of Hostile and Non-hostile Criticism with Relationship Quality

Three studies examine whether the type of criticism (hostile vs. non-hostile) or the sex of the person perceiving criticism affect the association of criticism with relationship satisfaction. Analyses of the samples of undergraduates (Studies 1 and 2) and community couples (Study 3) indicated that hostile criticism was negatively associated with relationship functioning, whereas non-hostile criticism was positively associated with relationship functioning. The former association was stronger for women than for men (Studies 2 and 3), while the latter association was stronger for men than for women (Study 1). The results also suggest that hostile criticism may be more strongly associated with negative relationship processes in women than men, whereas non-hostile criticism may be more strongly associated with positive relationship processes for men than women.

Expectations for future relationship satisfaction: Unique sources and critical implications for commitment

Contemporary perspectives on relationship commitment posit that intimates decide whether or not to maintain a relationship based on their commitment to that relationship, and that they base such commitment partially on their current satisfaction with that relationship. Nevertheless, given that ending a relationship requires knowing about both the current state of the relationship and the likely future state of the relationship, we propose that people base their commitment to a relationship more on their expected future satisfaction with the relationship than on their current satisfaction with that relationship. Six studies provided evidence for these ideas. Study 1 demonstrated that expected satisfaction is shaped by not only current satisfaction but also several unique indicators of the likelihood of future satisfaction, including anticipated life events, plans to improve the relationship, and individual differences. Then, using a combination of cross-sectional, experimental, and longitudinal methods, Studies 2 through 6 demonstrated that (a) expected satisfaction was a stronger predictor of relationship commitment, maintenance behaviors, and/or divorce than was current satisfaction and (b) expected satisfaction mediated the association between current satisfaction and these outcomes. These findings highlight not only the need to incorporate expected satisfaction into extent perspectives on commitment, but also the importance of expectations for decision-making processes more broadly. (PsycINFO Database Record

Women Like Being Valued for Sex, as Long as it is by a Committed Partner

How do women respond to being valued for sex by their partners? Although research supporting objectification theory suggests that women's reactions to sexual valuation are primarily negative, a separate body of research indicates that women expend significant effort to enhance their sexual appeal. Evolutionary perspectives suggest that whether women are more or less satisfied with partners who value them for sex may depend on how committed those partners are. Being sexually valued by a relatively uncommitted partner may violate women's desire to avoid short-term sexual relationships and thus may be negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. In contrast, being sexually valued by a highly committed partner may positively influence women's relationship satisfaction because it signals to them that they have successfully attracted a long-term relationship partner. Two studies of newly married couples supported these predictions. In Study 1 (N = 109), husbands' sexual valuation was positively associated with marital satisfaction among wives who perceived that those husbands were highly committed, but negatively associated with marital satisfaction among wives who perceived that those husbands were relatively less committed. Study 2 (N = 99) revealed the same pattern for wives (but not husbands) using a likely manifestation of sexual valuation-engaging in frequent sex. These findings join others to demonstrate that interpersonal processes do not have universally positive or negative implications for relationships; rather, their implications depend on the context in which they occur, including contexts that were reproductively beneficial or costly throughout evolutionary history.

What Type of Communication during Conflict is Beneficial for Intimate Relationships?

What constitutes effective communication during conflict? Answering this question requires (a) clarifying whether communication expresses opposition versus cooperation and is direct versus indirect, (b) assessing the mechanisms through which communication effects relationships, and (c) identifying the contextual factors that determine the impact of communication. Recent research incorporating these components illustrates that direct opposition is beneficial when serious problems need to be addressed and partners are able to change, but can be harmful when partners are not confident or secure enough to be responsive. In contrast, cooperative communication involving affection and validation can be harmful when serious problems need to changed, but may be beneficial when problems are minor, cannot be changed, or involve partners whose defensiveness curtails problem solving.

Psychological Empowerment Model in Iranian Pregnant Women

BACKGROUND

Women's empowerment programs during pregnancy focus primarily on increasing women's health goals and psychological empowerment has been considered important in most issues related to pregnant mothers' mental health. Using path analysis, this study aims to examine the direct and indirect components of psychological empowerment of pregnant mothers.

METHODS

This model-testing study was conducted in Gorgan, northwest of Iran during three months in spring of 2015. Through random cluster sampling, a total number of 160 pregnant women were selected from 10 urban medical centers and clinics as primary centers. We used Spritzer's Psychological empowerment scale. Suitable sampling based on Nunally and Bernstein was followed in the model. The relationships between the dependent variables were then examined by means of path analysis using Amos 18.

RESULTS

The psychological empowerment of pregnant mothers (PEPW) model is impacted by individual factors, such as marriage age and employment, including some subjectively rated factors such as marital satisfaction and experience of violence. The PEPW model was deemed appropriate as optimum conditions indicators of goodness of fit; low index of χ2/df shows little difference between the conceptual model and observed data, while RMSEA value indicated the goodness of fit. Other indicators such as CMIN=0.957, CMIN/DF=0.957, P-CLOSE=0.418, χ2=0.957 and probability level=0.328 the fact that the model is ideal. The mothers' employment had the highest coefficient in the PEPW path model .731 (0.443, 0.965) bootstrap confidence intervals by 95%, and with a p-value of less than 0.05.

CONCLUSIONS

The mothers' employment is the most important factor in psychological empowerment, but it cannot be addressed quickly. Programming to increase marital satisfaction followed by a decrease in family violence and prevention of early marriage are necessary for promotion of psychological empowerment during pregnancy.

The Effects of Lack of Joint Goal Planning on Divorce over 10 Years

Given the negative consequences of divorce on health and well-being, it is important to try to identify its predictors. In the current study we used data from the National Survey of Midlife Development (N = 2801) to examine the longitudinal effects of lack of joint goal planning with a romantic relationship partner on divorce over a 10-year period. Multilevel regression analyses showed that lack of joint planning with the relationship partner was associated with a 19% increase in the odds of divorce, even when controlling for various demographic (i.e., age, gender, relationship length, number of children in the household), individual (i.e., neuroticism, positive affect, negative affect, physical symptoms, planning), and relationship (i.e., marital empathy, partner strain, partner disagreement, marital satisfaction, commitment). These results demonstrate the importance of considering one's partner when making decisions and plans for the future, given that it has clear implications for relationship dissolution.

Forgive and Forget, or Forgive and Regret? Whether Forgiveness Leads to Less or More Offending Depends on Offender Agreeableness

How does forgiveness predict the likelihood of reoffending? One survey study, one experiment, one 4-year longitudinal study, and one 2-week diary study examined the implications of forgiveness for reoffending in relationships. In all four studies, agreeableness interacted with partner forgiveness to predict subsequent offending; partner forgiveness was negatively associated with subsequent offending among more agreeable people but positively associated with subsequent offending among less agreeable people. Furthermore, Study 4 demonstrated a unique mechanism of each simple effect; relatively agreeable people engaged in fewer transgressions against more forgiving partners because they felt obligated to refrain from transgressing against such partners whereas relatively disagreeable people engaged in more transgressions against more forgiving partners because they perceived those partners were less easily angered. These studies indicate that completely understanding the intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of forgiveness requires recognizing the dyadic nature of forgiveness and attending to qualities of the offender.

Should Spouses Be Demanding Less From Marriage? A Contextual Perspective on the Implications of Interpersonal Standards

How much should people ask of their relationships? Whereas several perspectives suggest high standards should make actual outcomes feel worse by comparison and thus harm relationships, other perspectives suggest high standards should motivate people to exert the effort necessary to cultivate quality partnerships. The current 4-year longitudinal study of newlywed couples reconciled these competing perspectives by testing a prediction implicit in Finkel, Hui, Carswell, and Larson’s suffocation model of marriage—that spouses’ standards interact with factors reflective of their abilities to meet those standards to predict subsequent satisfaction. Among spouses who either reported less severe problems or were in marriages observed to be characterized by lower levels of destructive behavior, standards were positively associated with satisfaction over time; among spouses who reported more severe problems or were in marriages characterized by higher levels of destructive behavior, in contrast, standards were negatively associated with satisfaction over time.

Emotional Regulation and Revictimization in Women's Intimate Relationships

The aim of the current study was to test whether women's emotional regulation (ER) capacity moderates the relationship between childhood abuse and both adult intimate partner violence (IPV) and relationship quality. Female graduate students (N = 425), either married or in a long-term cohabitation, participated in an Internet-based survey. Structural equation model (SEM) multiple-group analysis was conducted to estimate whether the link between childhood abuse and marital outcomes varied across high and low levels of ER. The data showed that childhood abuse was associated with higher levels of IPV and lower marital quality. A high level of ER was found to buffer the association between child abuse and IPV. Among women with a low level of ER, childhood abuse had a stronger negative effect on relationship quality than for women with a high level of ER. ER is a protective factor against revictimization in intimate relationships.