76 research outputs found
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
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
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 menâs 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 â sacrifice â 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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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 partnerâs job or schooling (i.e., accompanying partners), we tested preregistered predictions linking accompanying partnersâ 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 partnersâ attachment insecurities and relationship functioning could be buffered by partner prosociality in the form of perceived partner gratitude (i.e., partnersâ expressions of move-related and general gratitude) and perceived partner sacrifice (i.e., partnersâ 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 individualsâ 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 partnersâ relationship functioning, as well as the protective effects of perceiving a partnerâs prosociality following the major life transition of job relocation
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How can I thank you? Highlighting the benefactorâs responsiveness or costs when expressing gratitude
Despite growing evidence that showing gratitude plays a powerful role in building social connections, little is known about how to best express gratitude to maximize its relational benefits. In this research, we examined how two key ways of expressing gratitudeâconveying that the benefactorâs kind action met oneâs needs (responsiveness-highlighting) and acknowledging how costly the action was (cost-highlighting)âimpact benefactorsâ reactions to the gratitude and feelings about their relationship. Using observer ratings of gratitude expressions during couplesâ live interactions (N = 111 couples), and benefactorsâ self-reports across a 14-day experience sampling study (N = 463 daily reports), we found that responsiveness-highlighting was associated with benefactorsâ positive feelings about the gratitude expression and the relationship. In contrast, cost-highlighting had no such effect. These findings suggest that expressing gratitude in a way that highlights how responsive benefactors were may be critical to reaping the relational benefits of gratitude and have practical implications for improving couplesâ well-being
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