Pursuing Safety in Social Connection: A Flexibly Fluid Perspective on Risk Regulation in Relationships

People are fundamentally motivated to be included in social connections that feel safe, connections where they are consistently cared for and protected, not hurt or exploited. Romantic relationships have long played a crucial role in satisfying this fundamental need. This article reconceptualizes the risk-regulation model to argue that people draw on experiences from inside and outside their romantic relationships to satisfy their fundamental need to feel safe depending on others. We first review the direct relational cues (i.e., a partner's affectionate touch, responsive versus unresponsive behavior, and relative power) and indirect cues (i.e., bodily sensations, collective value in the eyes of others, and living conditions) that signal the current safety of social connection and motivate people to connect to others or protect themselves against them. We then review how people's chronic capacity to trust in others controls their sensitivity and reactivity to the safety cues. The article concludes with future research directions.

The long arm of rejection sensitivity and young adults' romantic relationships: An extension and a replication

INTRODUCTION

In an earlier study, we followed adolescents from age 16 to 23, examining the effect of rejection sensitivity (RS) on the quality of future romantic relationships. Findings showed that RS decreased over time, and the decrease associated with a higher quality of future romantic relationships. In contrast, the effect of the earlier level of RS on the quality of future romantic relationships was minor.

METHODS

Extending the earlier study, these 101 Israeli young adults (69 females, mean age = 22.79) were followed again from age 23 to 28. At age 28, the level of RS was assessed again. In addition, participants reported about the quality of their current or most recent romantic relationship.

RESULTS

Contrary to the earlier study, findings of the current study show that the earlier higher level of RS at age 23 was associated with a higher likelihood of maintaining distance and self concealing from one's partner, feeling less certain, and reporting greater tension in future relationships. In contrast, the effect of change in RS between ages 23 and 28 on future relationships was minimal.

CONCLUSIONS

Integrating the findings of the current and earlier studies underscores the role of earlier RS and its change over time during different developmental periods. RS decreases during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, and this decrease associates with a future higher quality of romantic relationships. In contrast, during the latter 20s RS stabilizes, and therefore, its earlier level associates with future romantic outcomes.

Do I Like You? Effects of Daily Negative Events and Implicit Self-Esteem on Daily Implicit Partner Regard

The current study examines explicit and implicit self-esteem as moderators of the daily association between negative events and implicit partner regard among cohabitating African American couples ( N = 360). In a 21-day diary study, individuals with low (vs. high) implicit self-esteem showed a negative association between negative non-relationship and non-interpersonal events and implicit partner regard that day. Age was also a significant moderator such that, only among older participants, low implicit self-esteem individuals reported lower implicit partner regard on days with higher levels of negative relationship, non-relationship, and non-interpersonal events. Findings highlight the importance of implicit partner regard in the risk regulation system and underscore the importance of high implicit self-esteem as a protective factor for relationship functioning among African American couples.

Revisiting the Power to Forgive: A Dyadic Approach for Determining the Relations Between Power, Self-Esteem, and Forgiveness in Romantic Relationships

Power pervades interpersonal relationships and can impact relationship-related outcomes (e.g., forgiveness). Here, we expected a positive association between power and forgiveness in two studies involving German and Israeli couples ( N = 149/174 couples). Actor–partner interdependence mediator models showed the expected positive associations of actor’s power with both actor’s forgiveness and partner’s forgiveness. Independent self-esteem partially mediated and interdependent self-esteem completely mediated the power–forgiveness link for actors. Also, high experienced power was associated with high self-esteem, which in turn was positively related to benevolence motivation and negatively related to revenge and avoidance motivation. The implications of these findings are relevant for couple’s therapy and advance our understanding of associations between power and relationship variables. Future research may distinguish between authentic and instrumental forgiveness and use experimental settings.

The Case for Studying Implicit Social Cognition in Close Relationships

This review offers close relationships as a fruitful avenue to address long-lasting questions and current controversies in implicit social cognition research. Close relationships provide a unique opportunity to study strong attitudes that are formed and updated through ongoing contact with significant others and appear to have important downstream consequences. Therefore, close relationship contexts enable researchers to apply fine-grained, dyadic, longitudinal methodologies to provide unique insights regarding whether and how automatic attitudes relate to personal experience, change meaningfully and reliably over time, and predict consequential judgments and behaviors. Further, given that close relationships are critical to people's well-being and health, applying implicit social cognition theories to close relationships may also offer practical benefits regarding real-world issues related to relationship decay. In this regard, we provide guidance for future research by highlighting how continuing to refine our understanding of implicit social cognition in close relationships can inform interventions and reliably benefit society

The Unbearable Automaticity of Being . . . in a Close Relationship

A recent surge in research on automatic processes in close relationships has revealed new insights into how people form and update relationship evaluations as well as the implications of these evaluations for their relationship outcomes. We begin by summarizing this research within the framework of interdependence theory—the predominant theory of how people evaluate and make decisions about their close relationships. In doing so, we review evidence that implicitly assessed automatic partner attitudes reflect pleasant and unpleasant experiences involving the partner and predict subsequent relationship outcomes, sometimes better than more deliberative judgments. Next, we describe several dual-process perspectives that suggest how and when these attitudes shape such outcomes, and we conclude by highlighting the potential benefits of examining automatic partner attitudes for theories of relationship science and beyond.

Bridging the Sciences of Mindfulness and Romantic Relationships

Research on mindfulness, defined as paying conscious and non-judgmental attention to present-moment experiences, has increased rapidly in the past decade but has focused almost entirely on the benefits of mindfulness for individual well-being. This article considers the role of mindfulness in romantic relationships. Although strong claims have been made about the potentially powerful role of mindfulness in creating better relationships, it is less clear whether, when, and how this may occur. This article integrates the literatures on mindfulness and romantic relationship science, and sketches a theory-driven model and future research agenda to test possible pathways of when and how mindfulness may affect romantic relationship functioning. We review some initial direct and indirect evidence relevant to the proposed model. Finally, we discuss the implications of how studying mindfulness may further our understanding of romantic relationship (dys)functioning, and how mindfulness may be a promising and effective tool in couple interventions.