72 research outputs found
Approach and avoidance motives for touch are predicted by attachment and predict daily relationship well-being
Sexual Nostalgia as a Response to Unmet Sexual and Relational Needs: The Role of Attachment Avoidance
Romantic relationships help people meet needs for connection and emotional and sexual fulfillment. In the current research, we investigate an unexplored response to feeling sexually and relationally unfulfilled: reflecting on positive sexual experiences with past partners (or sexual nostalgia). Across three studies, people low in attachment avoidance (i.e., comfortable with closeness) who were (a) single or (b) sexually or relationally dissatisfied reported greater sexual nostalgia, whereas people high in attachment avoidance (i.e., value autonomy) did not calibrate their feelings of sexual nostalgia based on their current relationship status or satisfaction. Sexual fantasies about past partners (i.e., sexual nostalgia) were distinct from other types of sexual fantasies (Study 1) and the effects could not be attributed to general nostalgia (Study 2) or sexual desire (Study 3). Chronic sexual nostalgia detracted from satisfaction over time. The findings have implications for theories of nostalgia and attachment and for managing unfulfilled needs in relationships
Pathways to Early Coital Debut for Adolescent Girls: A Recursive Partitioning Analysis
This study examined pathways to early coital debut among early to middle adolescent girls in the United States. In a two-year longitudinal study of 104 adolescent girls, recursive partitioning (RP) analyses were conducted to examine the specific factors that were related to engaging in first intercourse by the 10th grade among adolescent girls who had not yet engaged in sexual intercourse by the 8th grade. RP analyses identified subsamples of girls who had low, medium, and high likelihoods of engaging in early coital debut based on six variables (i.e., school aspirations, early physical intimacy experiences, depression, body objectification, body image, and relationship inauthenticity). For example, girls in the lowest likelihood group (3% had engaged in sex by the 10th grade) reported no prior experiences with being touched under their clothes, low body objectification, high aspirations to complete graduate education, and low depressive symptoms; girls in the highest likelihood group (75% had engaged in sex by the 10th grade) also reported no prior experiences with being touched under their clothes, but had high levels of body objectification. The implications of these analyses for the development of female adolescent sexuality, as well as for advances in quantitative methods, are discussed
Extradyadic stress as a barrier to sexual activity in couples? A Dyadic Response Surface Analysis
Sexuality is integral to most romantic relationships. Through stress spillover, however, factors such as individually experienced stress outside of the relationship (i.e., extradyadic stress) can negatively impact sexuality. In this study, we explored how a possible (mis)matching of both partners' levels of extradyadic stress is related to sexual activity and tested for gender differences. Analyzing 316 mixed-gender couples from Switzerland, we employed Dyadic Response Surface Analysis to assess how extradyadic stress is associated with sexual activity. Our results showed that extradyadic stress was positively linked to sexual activity for women (in general) and men (in the case of matching stress levels). As this result was surprising, we conducted additional exploratory analyses and split the measure of sexual activity into (1) exchange of affection and (2) eroticism (petting, oral sex, and intercourse) and controlled for age. Results from this second set of analyses showed that for women, matching stress levels were associated with higher exchange of affection, whereas menās exchange of affection was higher if men reported higher stress levels than women. Notably, after accounting for age, the link between stress and eroticism dissipated. Our findings suggest that exchange of affection may serve as a coping mechanism for stress, with gender influencing this dynamic. However, future research investigating stress and sexual activity should consider additional factors such as age, relationship satisfaction, stressor type, and stress severity
Sacrifices: costly prosocial behaviors in romantic relationships
Although previous research has found that prosocial behavior increases personal and relationship well-being, a particularly costly type of prosocial behavior ā sacrifice ā can sometimes have aversive effects and is the focus of the current review. We consider effects for both the individual who enacts the sacrifice and the recipient. Sacrifice, can take a toll on the giver's well-being, is a mixed blessing for the recipient (when they perceive the sacrifice), and may have some harmful consequences for relationships in the long-run. We discuss the importance of finding the right strategies (e.g. alternative solutions, comparison of costs and rewards between partners, reappraisals) to navigate these complex interpersonal situations in which partners' goals and preferences conflict
Testing the investment model of relationship commitment and stability in a longitudinal study of married couples
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Daily sleep quality and support in romantic relationships:The role of negative affect and perspective-taking
Partner commitment in close relationships mitigates social-class differences in subjective well-being
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Relationship functioning following a large-scale sacrifice: perceived partner prosociality buffers attachment insecurity
In a sample of 229 individuals who recently undertook a large-scale sacrifice by relocating for their romantic partnerās job or schooling (i.e., accompanying partners), we tested preregistered predictions linking accompanying partnersā attachment insecurities (i.e., attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) and relationship functioning (i.e., relationship quality, relationship conflict, and move-related relationship benefits). We also examined whether any negative associations found among accompanying partnersā attachment insecurities and relationship functioning could be buffered by partner prosociality in the form of perceived partner gratitude (i.e., partnersā expressions of move-related and general gratitude) and perceived partner sacrifice (i.e., partnersā daily sacrifice behaviors and general willingness to sacrifice). Results showed that more insecurely attached accompanying partners reported worse relationship functioning after moving than their secure counterparts. Although gratitude and sacrifice did not buffer insecurely attached individualsā relationship conflict, both perceived partner general gratitude and willingness to sacrifice partially buffered avoidantly attached individuals from experiencing lower relationship quality, while move-related gratitude helped avoidantly attached individuals to feel that the move benefitted their relationship. Meanwhile, perceived partner sacrifice behaviors buffered anxiously attached individuals from experiencing lower relationship quality. This is the first study to demonstrate, in an ecologically valid sample, the implications of a large-scale sacrifice for insecurely attached accompanying partnersā relationship functioning, as well as the protective effects of perceiving a partnerās prosociality following the major life transition of job relocation
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Understanding the links between perceiving gratitude and romantic relationship satisfaction using an accuracy and bias framework
Perceiving a partnerās gratitude has several benefits for romantic relationships. We aimed to better understand these associations by decomposing perceptions into accuracy and bias. Specifically, we examined whether accuracy and bias in perceiving a partnerās experience (Study 1: Ndyads= 205) and expression (Study 2: Ndyads= 309) of gratitude were associated with romantic relationship satisfaction. Using the Truth and Bias Model of Judgment, we found that perceivers generally underestimated their partnerās gratitude, and lower perceptions of gratitude were related to lower perceiver satisfaction. Perceivers reported greater satisfaction when they assumed their partnerās gratitude was similar to their own. Partners reported greater satisfaction when perceivers accurately gauged their partnersā gratitude experience (but not expression) and lower satisfaction when perceivers underestimated their gratitude expression (but not experience). Overall, by decomposing gratitude perceptions into accuracy and bias, we provide insight into how these components differentially relate to relationship satisfaction
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