This research examines adult attachment and the investment model. Study 1 tests anxiety and avoidance predicting romantic relationship commitment, mediated by satisfaction, alternatives, and investments. Additional studies added outcomes of relationship maintenance (Study 2) and persistence (Study 3). In all 3 studies, satisfaction, alternatives, and investments mediated the associations between anxiety and avoidance and relationship commitment. A direct effect of avoidance on commitment remained. The investment model variables mediated the effect of anxiety and avoidance on accommodation and willingness to sacrifice (Study 2) and relationship persistence (Study 3). Direct effects remained for avoidance on accommodation and anxiety on persistence. The mediated model was supported for men and women, proximal and long-distance relationships, and college student and community samples.

This study proposed a new theoretical formulation of schadenfreude as a psychological mechanism that responds to misfortunes that lower competitors' mate value. In Study 1, participants reported schadenfreude in response to their friends' naturally occurring and hypothetical misfortunes. In Study 2, participants reported schadenfreude in response to an envied friend experiencing a hypothetical misfortune linked with female or male mate value. As predicted, females in both studies reported more schadenfreude when a same-gender friend experienced a misfortune that lowered her physical attractiveness versus social status. Less consistent support was found for the prediction that males would report more schadenfreude when a same-gender friend experienced a misfortune that lowered his social status versus physical attractiveness. This study suggests several directions for future research.

Three studies involving dating relationships and friendships tested the hypothesis that higher perceived partner virtues (or personal strengths enacted in the context of relationships) are related to greater relationship problem-solving efficacy. Studies 1 and 2 showed that higher perceived partner virtues were related to more relationship problem-solving efficacy concurrently and longitudinally. Study 3 showed that perceiving one's partner as more virtuous predicted increased turning toward one's partner for assistance, which, in turn, predicted increased problem-solving efficacy. All 3 studies showed that higher perceived partner virtues were related to greater relationship problem-solving efficacy.

This research examined the effect of implicit theories of personality on interpersonal forgiveness and the mediating mechanism underlying this effect. Two experiments show that incremental personality theorists are less forgiving than entity personality theorists and that this difference can be explained by the incremental theorists' stronger tendency to appraise the transgressor as responsible for causing the hurtful event. The same findings were obtained regardless of whether forgiveness was measured by self-report or assessed as responses to anger words in a latency response task.

On the basis of the analysis of qualitative interviews in Western Germany, it has been argued that personal relationships have a strong impact on individuals' family formation processes and childbearing intentions. Persons who influence individuals' childbearing choices were identified. Strong ties, such as among core family members (i.e., parents and siblings), are an important contributing factor, but the authors are also able to show that weak ties, such as those among colleagues and acquaintances, need to be considered when examining social influence on family formation processes. Apart from single network partners, influential groups of persons have been identified. Such groups serve as a comparative standard regarding the timing of having one's first child and subsequent children.

Families constantly manage tension between autonomy from and connection to family members (T. C. Sabourin, 2003). Family conflict is an important maintenance behavior where this tension often plays out. Specifically, we hypothesized that the negotiation of family conflict between parents and children will be an important factor in the willingness of a young adult child to identify with family. Using a sample of young adults from 2 U.S. locations, regression analysis indicated that conflict styles mediated the association between family communication patterns and shared family identity. Specifically, the level of conformity orientation within the family emerged as moderator of the pattern of mediation. Additionally, findings suggested the avoiding conflict style may be particularly detrimental to shared family identity.

Using data from the German Family Panel (pairfam; n = 3,674 heterosexual couples), this study examines the impact of partners' individual levels and dyadic similarity concerning life goals, values, and personality traits on relationship satisfaction and union dissolution. Controlling for partners' individual characteristics and for relationship duration, it was found that similarity on specific dimensions and stereotype-adjusted profile correlations exerted significant yet small positive effects on both partners' relationship satisfaction. These effects largely translated into beneficial indirect effects on union dissolution 1 year later (Wave 2, n = 2,820). Moderator analyses indicated the existence of some effect heterogeneity across relationship duration and types. Generally, partners' respective individual characteristics appeared to predict relationship outcomes better than dyadic similarity measures.

Two hundred and sixty-five participants and their romantic partners were involved in a prospective, longitudinal, and multimethod study during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Guided by the development of the early adult romantic relationships (DEARR) model (Bryant & Conger, 2002), the research (a) investigated mid-adolescent family experiences and individual differences in personality as predictors of qualities in the early adult romantic union and (b) evaluated the degree to which marital beliefs mediated these associations. Structural equation modeling partially supported the mediating effects of marital beliefs. The findings were generally consistent with the DEARR model, suggesting that it is informative to study early adult romantic relationship functioning within a developmental-contextual framework, while simultaneously considering the unique effects of personality and relationship cognitions.

This study examined low intimacy as a mediator between partners' depression symptoms and low relationship satisfaction in a sample of 82 heterosexual couples who sought therapy at an outpatient clinic. Both the amount of intimate behavior that partners enact and the level of pleasure they experience from each other's intimate acts were assessed. Using an actor–partner interdependence model approach, path model analysis simultaneously included both partners' scores on measures of depression, intimate behavior, pleasure from partner's intimate behavior, and relationship satisfaction. Overall, female depression symptoms had a greater impact than male depression symptoms on the couple relationship. Male depression had little effect on intimacy, whereas the female partner's depression affected her pleasure from the male's intimate behavior and both partners' enactment of intimate behavior. The results indicate the importance of examining reciprocal influences between partners' functioning to understand and treat intimacy problems.

Interpersonal synchrony is a communicative lubricant that is associated with harmonious communication among conversational participants and is believed to be evidence of like-mindedness and interpersonal solidarity. In this secondary analysis of an existing data set of both power-equal and power-unequal couples working through a discussion task, the content and form of their conversations were qualitatively examined for evidence of synchrony and dissynchrony. It was found that power-equal couples tended toward synchronous communication and their conversations were represented by strategies that appeared either collaborative or competitive but generally respectful and problem oriented. The power-unequal couples used one-sided marginalization or withdrawal strategies that were characterized largely by dissynchrony. The theoretical implications for these findings are discussed.

Semantic differential items were reconfigured to assess relationship satisfaction across separate positive and negative attitude dimensions. Study 1 (N = 1,656) supported a 2-factor model for the Positive and Negative Semantic Differential (PN–SMD), as well as its convergent, criterion-related, and incremental validity over the 16-item Couples Satisfaction Index (CSI; J. L. Funk & R. D. Rogge, 2007) using known correlates of relationship satisfaction as criteria. Study 2 (N = 89) replicated the convergent, criterion-related, and incremental validity findings of Study 1 using different criterion measures, the CSI, a bipolar semantic differential measure designed for assessing relationship satisfaction, and an existing 2-dimensional measure of relationship satisfaction. The authors demonstrated across studies that the PN–SMD captures criterion-relevant information about ambivalence versus indifference toward the relationship—associations that are only detectable when using a 2-dimensional satisfaction measure.

This study examined the effects of relational conflict on sexual motivation. Sixty-one couples were videotaped while discussing either a major relationship problem or their daily routine. Both partners then completed measures of sexual motives and rated their romantic partner's sexual attractiveness. Results showed that conflict discussion inhibited relationship-based motives and had an adverse effect on women's perceptions of partner's attractiveness, but a beneficial effect on men's perceptions. Conflict discussion also inhibited self-serving sexual motives such as having sex to obtain relief from stress among people with avoidant partners, suggesting that people are unlikely to turn to avoidant partners for sexual consolation. Implications for understanding the role of the sexual system in regulating reactions to relationship distressful events are discussed.

Humor tends to predict romantic attraction, but does the style in which it is communicated matter? This study uses experimental methods to test the effects of positive and negative humor styles on short-term and long-term romantic interest. The authors randomly assigned 251 participants to read 1 of 4 relationship initiation vignettes depicting either an affiliative or aggressive humor style. Participants reported their short-term and long-term interest and made judgments of the relationship initiator's competence and warmth. Results support a fitness indicator model of humor style's role in relationship initiation; positive styles were preferred for long-term relationships while competence and warmth inferences predicted long-term attraction. The findings are discussed within the broader context of mate selection goals and challenges.

To evaluate factors shaping mate-selection decisions, 2 age groups of women were randomly assigned to hypothetical scenarios wherein they sought a sperm donor or life partner. Respondents were asked to (a) construct an ideal man and (b) rate and rank the importance of traits associated with good genes, parenting ability, partner potential, and economic resources. Women seeking donors valued good genes more and partner potential less than women seeking partners. Younger women sought greater degree of physical resemblance to donors than to partners. Older women showed greater desire to be similar to partners than donors on sociocultural characteristics. The findings suggest women adjust their selection criteria as a function of context and that mate preferences may change as women mature.

Associations among perceptions of partner responses to disclosures about capitalization and support experiences and relationship satisfaction were examined over 1 year in 268 individuals in romantic relationships. Multilevel modeling indicated that capitalization and support perceptions covaried over 1 year, but they independently predicted contemporaneous relationship satisfaction and appeared to be compensatory processes. However, with increasing relationship duration, support perceptions became more strongly associated with relationship satisfaction, whereas capitalization perceptions became less strongly associated with relationship satisfaction, suggesting that capitalization perceptions may play less of a buffering role with time. Results suggested that perceiving partners as interested and enthusiastic in the face of triumph, and as caring and supportive in the face of difficulties, serve important and independent relationship maintenance functions.

Drawing on the relational turbulence model, this study queries whether it is the amount of relational uncertainty and partner interference in a relationship, or the magnitude of an increase in these mechanisms over time, that accounts for decreased relationship satisfaction for new parents. To test these competing hypotheses, a longitudinal study of 78 couples was conducted in which both partners completed surveys about their relationship at 4 time points during the transition to parenthood. Multilevel modeling revealed that the amount and the increase of relational uncertainty and partner interference were negatively associated with relationship satisfaction when considered separately, but when evaluated in combination, the magnitude of an increase in these variables was the stronger predictor of relationship satisfaction.

The “similarity-attraction” effect stands as one of the most well-known findings in social psychology. However, some research contends that perceived but not actual similarity influences attraction. The current study is the first to examine the effects of actual and perceived similarity simultaneously during a face-to-face initial romantic encounter. Participants attending a speed-dating event interacted with ∼12 members of the opposite sex for 4 min each. Actual and perceived similarity for each pair were calculated from questionnaire responses assessed before the event and after each date. Data revealed that perceived, but not actual, similarity significantly predicted romantic liking in this speed-dating context. Furthermore, perceived similarity was a far weaker predictor of attraction when assessed using specific traits rather than generally.

Using the actor–partner interdependence model, we explore how various sources of stress and support experienced by fathers and mothers influence their own parenting styles and the parenting styles of the partner. Data from 227 couples were analyzed, with mothers and fathers rating their parenting stress and marital relationship and children rating the parenting styles of both mothers and fathers. Structural equation models revealed actor effects of parenting stress on demanding and responsive parenting styles, as well as partner effects between positive aspects of marital relationship and responsive parenting style. The results further indicate that the strength of these pathways is similar for both mothers and fathers and do not support the hypothesis that the parenting of fathers is more vulnerable than the parenting of mothers.

The nature of sexual intimacy using lay conceptions (i.e., prototypes) of intimacy and sexual intimacy has been explored. In Study 1, participants listed the features of sexual intimacy and intimacy. In Study 2, centrality ratings of these features were obtained. Although the 2 prototypes were very similar, they each had unique central attributes. In Study 3, central features of both concepts were found to be more salient in memory than peripheral features. Finally, in Study 4, the endorsement of central intimacy and sexual intimacy attributes in real romantic relationships were associated with relationship quality and sexual well-being, respectively. The nature and function of sexual intimacy is discussed, and it has been concluded that sexual intimacy is best conceptualized as a subtype of intimacy.

Facebook has become ubiquitous over the past 5 years, yet few studies have examined its role within romantic relationships. Two studies tested attachment anxiety and avoidance as predictors of Facebook-related jealousy and surveillance (i.e., checking a romantic partner's Facebook page). Study 1 found that anxiety was positively associated, and avoidance negatively associated, with Facebook jealousy and surveillance. The association of anxiety with Facebook jealousy was mediated in part by lower trust. Study 2 replicated this finding, and daily diary results further showed that over a 1-week period, anxiety was positively associated, and avoidance negatively associated, with Facebook surveillance. The association of anxiety with greater surveillance was mediated in part by daily experiences of jealousy.

Adult attachment classification is traditionally based on qualitative coding of participants' discourse about their attachment history. Word count-based analyses have proven useful for assessing emotional states from narrative. To expand the understanding of how language is used in emotion regulation processes related to attachment, the authors assess 102 college-aged adults' language on the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Autonomous adults use more emotion words and, in particular, negative emotion words. Preoccupied adults use more anger words. Disorganized adults use more experientially connected language and more death/dying words, but also use more second-person pronouns when discussing loss. Language use during the AAI explains variability in self-reported emotional distress above and beyond attachment classifications. Results are discussed in terms of their relevance to emotion and attachment.

Focusing on relational maintenance in heterosexual romantic dyads, this investigation compares the equity theory approach with self-expansion theory, an alternative approach predicting maintenance behavior when a partner includes the other in the sense of the self. Results supported both theoretical explanations, albeit support for self-expansion theory was more consistent, predicting all maintenance behavior types. Although relational maintenance constructs were statistically comparable between men and women, a sex difference emerged regarding maintenance behavior's predictors, with self-expansion theory a stronger explanation for men but not women. The discussion considers how these results inform the distinction between exchange- and communally oriented conceptualizations of relationships, as well as development of a communicative theory of relational maintenance.

This research investigated how negative and positive residuals of the workday spill over into the partner relationship. To unravel the mechanism of this spillover, this study introduces the concept of “psychological availability,” which refers to the individual's ability and motivation to direct psychological resources at the partner. A survey was conducted among 313 Dutch dual-earner couples with children, using dyadic data analysis to analyze both partners simultaneously in 1 model. Psychological availability mediated the link between negative and positive work-related residuals (i.e., work-related negative mood, exhaustion, rumination and work-related positive mood and vigor, respectively) and marital behavior. The findings suggest that partners' workday residuals spill over into the marital relationship through being more or less psychologically available for each other.

Three studies (1 correlational and 2 experiments) applied the investment model to explain social network approval for others' romantic relationships. Study 1 supported the prediction that friends' perceived satisfaction and perceived alternatives were predictive of their approval for target relationships, while perceived investments was not a significant predictor. Studies 2 and 3 employed experimental manipulations of perceived satisfaction to test its causal impact on relationship approval, and in these studies, perceived satisfaction was a significant predictor of relationship approval. Taken as a whole, these findings supported the prediction that perceived relationship satisfaction is a causal factor influencing friends' approval of target romantic relationships.

Since its publication, Elijah Anderson's (1999) Code of the Street thesis has found support in studies connecting disadvantage to the internalization of street-oriented values and an associated lifestyle of violent/deviant behavior. This primary emphasis on deviance in public arenas has precluded researchers from examining the implications of the code of the street for less public arenas, such as intimate relationships. In an effort to understand if and how the endorsement of the street code may infiltrate such relationships, this study examines the associations between the code of the street and relationship satisfaction and commitment among young adults involved in heterosexual romantic relationships. Using a dyadic approach, the study finds that street code orientation, in general, negatively predicts satisfaction and commitment, in part due to increased relationship hostility/conflict associated with the internalization of the code. Gender differences in these associations are considered and discussed at length.

This research applies the emotion regulation (ER) model of attachment to the regulation of specific emotions, namely sadness and anger, in early adolescents. The study investigates how attachment and accompanying ER strategies relate to both internalizing and externalizing problems. Two separate cross-sectional studies (N = 197 and N = 310) supported different associations between attachment and ER (i.e., dysregulation and suppression). For attachment avoidance, associations with ER strategies seem to depend on the specific type of emotion involved, whereas attachment anxiety related to dysregulation irrespective of the type of emotions. Furthermore, Study 2 found that attachment anxiety and avoidance are associated with internalizing and externalizing problems via different ER strategies. Discussion focuses on the dynamics involved in associations between attachment, ER, and psychological problems.

We propose that people forgive to serve particular functions, depending on the extent to which forgiveness is intended to benefit the self, the offender, and their relationship. Three studies on personally experienced transgressions in valued relationships (Ns = 233, 239, and 83) indicate that victims are more likely to forgive for the sake of the self and the relationship than for an offender. Relationship focus is associated with increased benevolence and relationship quality and decreased revenge and avoidance. Offender focus is associated with nonvengeful motivations. Self focus is associated with avoidance and lower relationship closeness; in the immediate aftermath of a transgression, it is also related to unforgiving responses and reduced relationship satisfaction. The findings have important implications for forgiveness theorizing and application.

The current research presents an adapted Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) to assess the aspects of the relational schema of romantic partners that are difficult to verbalize and tests the prediction that a positive implicit image of the partner constitutes a psychological resource that increases well-being. In Study 1, the partner-AMP predicted well-being in student participants even after controlling for explicit partner attitudes and socially desirable responding. In Study 2, the partner-AMP was assessed in women with a recent history of physical abuse and a control group. As expected, the partner-AMP was related to group membership and predicted well-being over and above explicit partner attitudes and battering experience. The results are compatible with the notion of an implicit secure base schema.

Emerging adulthood is an intense period of personal development and interpersonal exploration; most emerging adults engage in several romantic relationships of varying commitment levels throughout their late teens and early twenties. The current study explored whether one relationship behavior, staying over, is related to specific demographic characteristics, previous experiences, and personal beliefs and attitudes. A sample of 627 emerging adults were surveyed about their experiences with staying overnight with their romantic partners, their reasons for doing so, and their attitudes about full-time cohabitation. Participants who were older, had cohabited at some point, lived independently from family, viewed religion as unimportant, and had positive attitudes about cohabitation were found to be more likely to stay over.

This study extended previous research on complementarity through the examination of female same-gender romantic dyads. One-hundred and forty-four women (72 couples) completed interpersonal circumplex ratings of their romantic partner and a relationship measure of love and harmony. Results indicated that high levels of relationship quality were reported by participants who were warm and submissive or who had partners who possessed these characteristics. Additionally, members of female same-gender couples tended to complement each other in terms of dominance but not warmth. However, consistent with past research stressing the unique importance female same-gender couples tend to prescribe to relationship equality, dyads that contained members who were equivalent in terms of dominance tended to experience high levels of relationship quality.

Several studies tested whether partner-focused prayer shifts individuals toward cooperative tendencies and forgiveness. In Studies 1 and 2, participants who prayed more frequently for their partner were rated by objective coders as less vengeful. Study 3 showed that, compared to partners of targets in the positive partner thought condition, the romantic partners of targets assigned to pray reported a positive change in their partner's forgiveness. In Study 4, participants who prayed following a partner's “hurtful behavior” were more cooperative with their partners in a mixed-motive game compared to participants who engaged in positive thoughts about their partner. In Study 5, participants who prayed for a close relationship partner reported higher levels of cooperative tendencies and forgiveness.