Transference of relationship qualities to a virtual world

This dissertation investigates to which extent internal working models of relationships and personality characteristics of participants are transferred to computer-generated agents in a virtual social environment (VSE). For this purpose a VSE was created that was populated with several autonomous agents which interacted with each other. Participants can control one of the the agents (the "protagonist"); one of the other agents is the spouse of the protagonist. Using this setup, a potential projection screen for the dynamics of the real-life relationship, as well as for generalized internal working models was created. Chapter 1 summarizes the research question, gives an overview of the development of the VSE called "Simoland", and provides a general summary and conclusion about the dissertation. Chapters 2 - 4 each are self-contained manuscripts. Chapter 2 („The challenge of constructing psychologically believable agents“) is a theoretical article which describes challenges and new possibilities in the implementation of psychological models into autonomous agents. Chapter 3 („Virtual social environments as a tool for psychological assessment: Dynamics of interaction with a virtual spouse“) describes the first empirical study conducted in Simoland. This study demonstrates how intrapersonal changes in interaction behavior can be investigated in VSEs. With a sample of 236 participants I could show that both the relationship satisfaction with the real life partner, and the intimacy motive of the participant had an influence on the behavior towards the virtual spouse. Hence, it could be shown that virtual behavior indeed is connected to conditions of the real world. While the first study investigated unrestricted behavior in an open world, in Chapter 4 („Transference of adult attachment dynamics to a virtual spouse“) specific, theoretically derived scenes were created which were supposed to activate the attachment system. With a sample of 422 participants we could demonstrate interindividual differences in attachment behavior as a reaction to one of three scenes: a separation, a conflict with the virtual spouse, and a threatening situation. Both attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance significantly and meaningfully correlated with the behavior in the VSE, the physical distance between protagonist and virtual spouse, and emotional ratings. To summarize, this dissertation for the first time shows that qualities of real-life relationships, as well as internal working models of attachment, are transferred to virtual agents. Thereby new ways are opened to investigate behavior in close relationships and representations of significant others through virtual scenarios.Diese Dissertation untersucht, inwieweit Beziehungsrepräsentationen und Persönlichkeitsmerkmale von Personen auf computergenerierte Agenten in einer virtuellen sozialen Umgebung (VSU) übertragen werden. Dazu wurde eine VSU erstellt, in der Teilnehmer eine virtuelle Figur (den „Protagonisten“) steuern können, welche wiederum mit anderen autonomen Agenten interagiert. Einer dieser anderen Agenten ist der virtuelle Partner/ die virtuelle Partnerin des Protagonisten, womit eine mögliche Projektionsfläche für die Beziehungsdynamik der realen Partnerschaft sowie für generalisierte interne Arbeitsmodelle von Beziehungen hergestellt wurde. Kapitel 1 fasst die Forschungsfrage zusammen und beschreibt den Entstehungsprozess der VSU namens „Simoland“, und gibt eine kurze Zusammenfassung der Gesamtergebnisse. Kapitel 2 – 4 stellen jeweils eigenständige Manuskripte dar. Kapitel 2 („The challenge of constructing psychologically believable agents“) ist ein theoretischer Artikel, der Herausforderungen und neue Wege beschreibt wie psychologische Modelle in autonome Agent implementiert werden können. Kapitel 3 („Virtual social environments as a tool for psychological assessment: Dynamics of interaction with a virtual spouse“) beschreibt die erste psychologische Untersuchung in Simoland, welche demonstriert wie intraindividuelle Entwicklung im Interaktionsverhalten untersucht werden kann. An einer Stichprobe von 236 Teilnehmern konnte gezeigt werden, dass sowohl die Beziehungszufriedenheit zum realen Partner, als auch das Intimitätsmotiv der Teilnehmer einen Einfluss auf das Verhalten in der VSU hatten, und somit das virtuelle Verhalten tatsächlich verknüpft ist mit der realen Welt. Während die erste Studie freies Verhalten untersucht hat, wurden in der zweiten Studie theoriegeleitet verschiedene Szenarien hergestellt, welche das Bindungssystem aktivieren sollen. (Kapitel 4: „Transference of adult attachment dynamics to a virtual spouse“). Dadurch konnten an 422 Teilnehmern interindividuelle Unterschiede im Bindungsverhalten als Reaktion auf folgende Szenen gezeigt werden: eine Trennungssituation, eine Konfliktsituation, sowie eine Bedrohungssituation. Die dimensionalen Bindungsstile (Bindungsvermeidung und Bindungsängstlichkeit) korrelierten sinnvoll und signifikant mit dem Verhalten in der VSU, der physikalischen Distanz zwischen Protagonist und Partner/in, sowie Emotionseinschätzungen. Zusammenfasst zeigt diese Dissertation zum ersten Mal, dass Qualitäten der realen Partnerschaft, sowie interne Arbeitsmodelle der Bindung auf virtuelle Agenten übertragen werden. Somit werden neue Wege eröffnet, Beziehungsverhalten und -repräsentationen in virtuellen Szenarien zu untersuchen

Strange Carers

The present comment focuses on the distinction between attachment as bond formation and expectations of availability and responsiveness (security) within attachment relationships. We enumerate key components of bonding and functions of carer secure base support. Our analysis has implications for design and suggests that robots are unlikely to serve effectively as sole carers. Even with robots as part-time carers, attachment-like bonds would likely focus on human carers. Similarly, although infants and children would certainly build expectations regarding the availability and responsiveness of robot carers, the quality of human care would probably be the determining influence on later development and competence. Notwithstanding their limitations of robots as attachment figures they have considerable potential to extend parental care and enrich infant exploration. The Sharkey’s paper and further consideration of robots as carers for infants, children, older adults, an

At what sample size do correlations stabilize?

Sample correlations converge to the population value with increasing sample size, but the estimates are often inaccurate in small samples. In this report we use Monte-Carlo simulations to determine the critical sample size from which on the magnitude of a correlation can be expected to be stable. The necessary sample size to achieve stable estimates for correlations depends on the effect size, the width of the corridor of stability (i.e., a corridor around the true value where deviations are tolerated), and the requested confidence that the trajectory does not leave this corridor any more. Results indicate that in typical scenarios the sample size should approach 250 for stable estimates

Testing Similarity Effects with Dyadic Response Surface Analysis

Dyadic similarity effect hypotheses state that the (dis)similarity between dyad members (e.g. the similarity on a personality dimension) is related to a dyadic outcome variable (e.g. the relationship satisfaction of both partners). Typically, these hypotheses have been investigated by using difference scores or other profile similarity indices as predictors of the outcome variables. These approaches, however, have been vigorously criticized for their conceptual and statistical shortcomings. Here, we introduce a statistical method that is based on polynomial regression and addresses most of these shortcomings: dyadic response surface analysis. This model is tailored for similarity effect hypotheses and fully accounts for the dyadic nature of relationship data. Furthermore, we provide a tutorial with an illustrative example and reproducible R and Mplus scripts that should assist substantive researchers in precisely formulating, testing, and interpreting their dyadic similarity effect hypotheses

Eliciting Short-Term Closeness in Couple Relationships With Ecological Momentary Interventions

Relationship closeness is considered an important psychological variable for studying couple relationships, and is often postulated as cause for important relationship outcomes. The current study evaluates four micro-interventions for their suitability to experimentally elicit feelings of closeness towards one’s partner. Using participants’ smartphones, and a combination of experience sampling, event sampling, and ecological momentary interventions, individuals reported for a week on their experiences of closeness before and after completing daily either a neutral task or a task meant to enhance relationship closeness. The closeness tasks included showing physical affection, sharing a childhood memory, looking each other in the eyes for five minutes, and discussing shared life achievements. Results of intention-to-treat analyses on a within-person level showed that closeness increased from pre- to post-measurement on average more strongly on days of any of the four examined closeness conditions than on days of the neutral control conditions. Interindividual variability of this effect was observed, emphasizing the relevance of using within-person designs to evaluate such interventions. Exploratory analyses showed that effect sizes declined across time within the day. This study provides instruments for research on causal effects of closeness in everyday relationship life, and an evidence basis for smartphone-delivered interventions in practitioner settings

Motivational interdependence in couple relationships

This article presents an integrative conceptual model of motivational interdependence in couples, the MIC model. Based on theoretical tenets in motivation psychology, personality psychology, and research on interpersonal perception, the MIC model postulates that two partners' motive dispositions fundamentally interact in shaping their individual motivation and behavior. On a functional level, a partner's motivated behavior is conceptualized as an environmental cue that can contribute to an actor's motive expression and satisfaction. However, the partner's motivated behavior is considered to gain this motivational relevance only via the actor's subjective perception. Multilevel analyses of an extensive experience sampling study on partner-related communal motivation ( N = up to 60,803 surveys from 508 individuals nested in 258 couples) supported the MIC model. Participants, particularly those with strong communal motive dispositions, behaved more communally at moments when they perceived their partners to behave more communally. In addition, participants experienced momentary boosts in satisfaction when they behaved more communally and, at the same time, perceived their partners' behavior as similarly communal. Broader implications of the MIC model for research on romantic relationships are discussed