Machine learning uncovers the most robust self-report predictors of relationship quality across 43 longitudinal couples studies

Given the powerful implications of relationship quality for health and well-being, a central mission of relationship science is explaining why some romantic relationships thrive more than others. This large-scale project used machine learning (i.e., Random Forests) to 1) quantify the extent to which relationship quality is predictable and 2) identify which constructs reliably predict relationship quality. Across 43 dyadic longitudinal datasets from 29 laboratories, the top relationship-specific predictors of relationship quality were perceived-partner commitment, appreciation, sexual satisfaction, perceived-partner satisfaction, and conflict. The top individual-difference predictors were life satisfaction, negative affect, depression, attachment avoidance, and attachment anxiety. Overall, relationship-specific variables predicted up to 45% of variance at baseline, and up to 18% of variance at the end of each study. Individual differences also performed well (21% and 12%, respectively). Actor-reported variables (i.e., own relationship-specific and individual-difference variables) predicted two to four times more variance than partner-reported variables (i.e., the partner’s ratings on those variables). Importantly, individual differences and partner reports had no predictive effects beyond actor-reported relationship-specific variables alone. These findings imply that the sum of all individual differences and partner experiences exert their influence on relationship quality via a person’s own relationship-specific experiences, and effects due to moderation by individual differences and moderation by partner-reports may be quite small. Finally, relationship-quality change (i.e., increases or decreases in relationship quality over the course of a study) was largely unpredictable from any combination of self-report variables. This collective effort should guide future models of relationships

Does subliminal exposure to sexual stimuli have the same effects on men and women

Three studies explored gender differences in explicit and implicit components of sexual arou-sal following brief exposure to a sexual stimulus. Whereas Study 1 assessed reports of sexual arousal following subliminal exposure to a sexual or a neutral picture, Studies 2 and 3 exam-ined the effects of the same priming procedure on accessibility of sex-related thoughts assessed with a pictorial judgment task and a lexical decision task. The subliminal sexual prime did not have an effect on men’s reports of sexual arousal, but caused women to report lower levels of sexual arousal. In contrast, the same subliminal sexual prime led to higher accessibility of sex-related thoughts in both men and women. It is therefore suggested that the subliminal sexual prime causes women to activate sex-related mental contents but to experience the result as somewhat aversive. The nature of sexual arousal has concerned research-ers for years. Ever since Freud (1935, 1949, 1950), researchers have tried to determine what accounts for individual differences in arousal reactions to sexual stim

Supplemental Material, jspr-17-153-File005 - You haven’t been on my mind lately: Partner responsiveness mediates the link between attachment insecurity and sexual fantasies

<p>Supplemental Material, jspr-17-153-File005 for You haven’t been on my mind lately: Partner responsiveness mediates the link between attachment insecurity and sexual fantasies by Moran Mizrahi, Yaniv Kanat-Maymon, and Gurit E. Birnbaum in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships</p

Supplemental Material, jspr-17-153-File004 - You haven’t been on my mind lately: Partner responsiveness mediates the link between attachment insecurity and sexual fantasies

<p>Supplemental Material, jspr-17-153-File004 for You haven’t been on my mind lately: Partner responsiveness mediates the link between attachment insecurity and sexual fantasies by Moran Mizrahi, Yaniv Kanat-Maymon, and Gurit E. Birnbaum in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships</p

Supplemental Material, jspr-17-153-File003 - You haven’t been on my mind lately: Partner responsiveness mediates the link between attachment insecurity and sexual fantasies

<p>Supplemental Material, jspr-17-153-File003 for You haven’t been on my mind lately: Partner responsiveness mediates the link between attachment insecurity and sexual fantasies by Moran Mizrahi, Yaniv Kanat-Maymon, and Gurit E. Birnbaum in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships</p