Development and validation of the Adult Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Scale: Measuring mother, best friend, and romantic partner acceptance

Disentangling acceptance: Direct and indirect effects of partner acceptance on felt acceptance and relationship satisfaction

Acceptance in intimate relationships predicts relationship satisfaction, as well as positive treatment outcomes in some couple interventions. However, little research has attempted to disentangle the dyadic effects of husbands' and wives' partner acceptance (i.e., acceptance of one's partner) and felt acceptance (i.e., felt sense of being accepted by one's partner) on relationship satisfaction. This study utilized a modified actor-partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) to examine whether the associations between acceptance of one's partner and each partner's relationship satisfaction are mediated by each partner's felt acceptance. We analyzed baseline self-report data from 209 heterosexual married couples who participated in a brief marital intervention in the United States. The final model supported the prediction that a person's acceptance of their partner would relate to their partner's relationship satisfaction through their partner's felt acceptance (i.e., an "accuracy effect") and to their own relationship satisfaction through their own felt acceptance (i.e., a "projection effect"). In all, the study demonstrates the utility of examining partner acceptance and felt acceptance as distinct, but related, constructs. Researchers and clinicians working with couples may consider conceptualizing, assessing, and even targeting partners and felt acceptance separately. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

What is boredom proneness? A comparison of three characterizations

OBJECTIVE

Boredom proneness is associated with various problematic behaviors and mental health issues. Despite its wide-ranging implication, boredom proneness as a trait-like construct suffers from conceptual ambiguity and measurement issues. We examined whether boredom proneness represents individual differences in (a) the frequency of getting bored, (b) the intensity of boredom, and/or (c) a holistic perception of life being boring (perceived life boredom).

METHOD

Across Study 1 (U.S. Sample, N = 495; HK Sample, N = 231) and Study 2 (N = 608), we tested the construct validity of boredom proneness by estimating its association with measures of the three possible characterizations (convergent validity), and examined to what extent associations between boredom proneness and variables relevant to well-being (e.g., life satisfaction, psychological distress) could be reproduced with the three potential characterizations (concurrent validity).

RESULTS

Results suggest that each of the three characterizations represents some aspect of boredom proneness, and they generally reproduced boredom proneness' associations with other variables. Among them, perceived life boredom had the strongest convergent and concurrent validity.

CONCLUSION

Our findings provide novel insights into the characterization of boredom proneness and its hitherto poorly understood relationship with psychological well-being.