Need Fulfillment and Stay-Leave Behavior: On the Diagnosticity of Personal and Relational Needs.

Need fulfillment has been found to be associated with numerous positive relationship outcomes, but its impact on stay–leave behavior is less clear. In the current study, we considered whether the fulfillment of different needs might differentially affect stay–leave behavior. We distinguished between needs that are personal in nature and those that are relational in nature. Central to our theoretical analysis is the interdependence-based contention that the fulfillment of different kinds of needs provides diagnostic information regarding a partner’s motives and intentions regarding a relationship. Using two-wave longitudinal data obtained from romantically involved participants, we tested the relative fit of two alternative models that specified the associations between the fulfillment of different kinds of needs, commitment, and stay–leave behavior. Consistent with an interdependence approach, we found that the influence of the fulfillment of personal needs on stay–leave behavior was mediated by commitment, whereas the fulfillment of relational needs directly influenced stay–leave behavior. Implications for relationship functioning are considered

On the Benefits of Valuing Being Friends for Non-Marital Romantic Partners

Romantic relationships are, at their core, friendships. As such, it may be the case that valuing that aspect of the relationship fortifies the romantic relationship against negative outcomes and serves as a buffer against dissolution. We explored the role of valuing friendship within romantic relationships in two two-wave studies examining whether investing in the friendship aspect of the relationship (Study 1; N = 190) and placing importance on affiliative need fulfillment (Study 2; N = 184) were associated with positive concurrent outcomes and positive outcomes over time. Results revealed that valuing the friendship aspect of a romance is a strong positive predictor of concurrent romantic relationship qualities (i.e., love, sexual gratification, and romantic commitment), is associated with increases in these qualities over time and is negatively associated with romantic dissolution. Furthermore, evidence suggests that these benefits come from valuing friendship specifically, rather than any other aspect of the relationship (e.g., the sexual aspect)

Whose Intentions Predict? Power over Condom Use within Heterosexual Dyads

According to major theories of behavioral prediction, the most proximal psychological predictor of an individual’s behavior is that individual’s intention. With respect to interdependent behaviors such as condom use, however, relationship dynamics influence individuals’ power to make decisions and to act. Objective: The current study examines how relationship dynamics impact 3 condom use relevant outcomes: (a) the individual forming his or her own intention to use condoms, (b) the couple forming their joint intention to use condoms, and (c) actual condom use behavior. Method: We conducted a 2-wave longitudinal study of young heterosexual adult couples at high risk for HIV infection involving the collection of both individual- and couple-derived data. Results: Results demonstrate the importance of both person (e.g., biological sex and dispositional dominance) and relational (e.g., relational power and amount of interest in the relationship, operationalized as commitment and perceived alternatives to the relationship) factors in predicting condom use intentions and behavior. Individuals who are lower in dispositional dominance are likely to incorporate their partner’s intentions into their own individual intentions; the intentions of individuals who have less interest in the relationship are more highly predictive of the couple’s joint intention; and the intentions of men and individuals higher in relationship power are more likely to exert a direct influence on condom use. Conclusions: These findings have implications for improving the health of high-risk individuals, including suggesting situations in which individuals are highly influenced by their partners’ intentions

The relational consequences of personal goal pursuits

In daily life, individuals must balance the tasks necessary to fulfill goals spanning several domains of life. In the current studies, we examined what impact ongoing personal goal pursuits have on how individuals attend to and process information relevant to relational goals. In four experiments, we employed a manipulation that evokes the cognitive tuning and biased processing associated with the mindsets that arise naturally during goal striving (Gollwitzer, 1990), and examined the consequences of these mindsets for the relationship. Results indicated that when an individual focused on pursuing a personal goal, they failed to attend to their relational goals (Study 1), were unwilling to engage in pro-relationship behavior that incurred cost for the personal goal (Study 2), and processed their relational goal achievement in a one-sided (i.e., without nuance or variability; Study 3), evaluatively polarized (Study 4) fashion. Together, these findings provide a greater understanding of how pursuing a personal goal can undermine relationship maintenance

Non-marital Romantic Relationship Commitment and Leave Behavior: The Mediating Role of Dissolution Consideration

Two studies investigated the process by which individuals in non-marital romantic relationships characterized by low commitment move toward enacting leave behaviors. Predictions based on the behavioral, goal, and implementation intention literatures were tested using a measure of dissolution consideration developed for this research. Dissolution consideration assesses how salient relationship termination is for an individual while one’s relationship is intact. Study 1 developed and validated a measure of dissolution consideration and Study 2 was a longitudinal test of the utility of dissolution consideration in predicting the enactment of leave behaviors. Results indicated that dissolution consideration mediates the association between commitment and enacting leave behaviors, is associated with taking more immediate action, and provides unique explanatory power in leave behavior beyond the effect of commitment alone. Collectively, the findings suggest that dissolution consideration is an intermediate step between commitment and stay/leave behavior in close relationships

Spanish Version of the Investment Model Scale

Voluminous work has catalogued the utility of Rusbult\u27s (1980) investment model of commitment processes in understanding why some relationships persist whereas others fail. To date this work has been conducted almost exclusively with samples of English-speaking individuals. To facilitate testing novel hypotheses among Spanish-speaking populations as well examining various cross-cultural questions, we present a Spanish version of the Investment Model Scale (Rusbult, Martz, & Agnew, 1998). With a sample of Spanish-speaking individuals from Chile, we demonstrate that our translation has the same structural properties as the English version (Study 1) and has good predictive validity (Study 2). The Spanish version of the Investment Model Scale will enable researchers to sample a larger subset of the population and allow for the examination of cultural influences on relationship processes

Norms, Diplomatic Alternatives, and the Social Psychology of War Support

Using experiments, we show that subjects who are asked about their support for war without being told about diplomatic strategies to deal with crises back military operations at levels consistent with people who are told that the alternatives to war are of low quality. In contrast, subjects who are told that diplomacy could work to resolve conflicts express less support for military operations. These results suggest that, in the absence of conflicting evidence, people premise their support for war on the assumption that leaders use force as a last resort. Implications for the study of success as an influence on public attitudes about US military operations are considered

Committed to us: Predicting relationship closeness following nonmarital romantic relationship breakup

There is little research on the nature of relationships between individuals following the termination of a nonmarital romantic relationship. It is largely unknown to what extent former romantic partners remain close following breakup. The present research used the Investment Model of Commitment Processes, assessed prior to romantic breakup, to examine the closeness of post-breakup relationships. Results obtained from two waves of data collected from 143 young adults involved in romantic relationships at Time 1 and experiencing a romantic breakup by Time 2 indicated that pre-breakup romantic commitment mediated the effects of pre-breakup romantic satisfaction, investments, and alternatives on post-breakup closeness, with higher pre-breakup commitment predicting greater post-breakup closeness. Implications of these findings for understanding the underlying dynamics of ongoing interpersonal relationships and directions for future research are discussed. </jats:p

Using actor-partner interdependence modeling to understand HPV vaccine acceptance.

A wealth of scientific literature has been devoted to understanding what factors influence parents and their adolescent children to obtain the HPV vaccine. This literature is relatively uniform in its methodological approach of sampling individuals (i.e., either parents or adolescents) and examining the predictors of uptake for that individual. To improve understanding of HPV vaccination uptake, we sampled low-income, African American parent-child dyads with either a female (n = 93) or a male (n = 116) adolescent who had not been vaccinated. Both parents and children completed self-report measures that tapped intent to receive the vaccine and hypothesized predictors of intent (i.e., self-efficacy, beliefs about the vaccine, beliefs about HPV, knowledge of HPV). Using a dyadic analytic approach (i.e., the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model or APIM) [1], we found that parents and their adolescents have different structures of beliefs regarding HPV vaccination (i.e., they are empirically distinguishable). Consistent with prior research, the majority of predictors of an individual's own intention to vaccinate were individual-level variables; uniquely though, some predictors endorsed by one member of the dyad influenced the intentions held by the other member. Specifically, parents' reports of HPV severity and their self-efficacy were both associated with adolescents' intent to obtain the vaccine. Further, adolescents' beliefs that the vaccine will lead to greater promiscuity or be stigmatizing were associated with parents holding an increased intent to vaccinate. Use APIM improves understanding of HPV vaccination uptake and can be used to guide intervention efforts