Implicit theories of relationships and self-expansion: Implications for relationship functioning

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1579-1599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent A. Mattingly ◽  
Kevin P. McIntyre ◽  
C. Raymond Knee ◽  
Timothy J. Loving
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Implicit Theories ◽  
The Self ◽  
Relationship Functioning ◽  
Implicit Beliefs ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Relationship Types ◽  
Over Time

Individuals hold implicit beliefs about the nature of romantic relationships. Growth beliefs are characterized by thoughts that romantic relationships can be cultivated over time, whereas destiny beliefs are characterized by thoughts that relationships are either meant to be or not. In the current research, we propose that individuals who hold strong growth beliefs (but not destiny beliefs) should be more likely to experience self-expansion, as these individuals are oriented toward relationship cultivation. In turn, this increase in self-expansion should promote greater relationship quality and maintenance. Across three studies (two cross-sectional and one longitudinal) that sampled from varying populations and relationship types, we found evidence that self-expansion mediates the association between growth beliefs (but not destiny beliefs) and satisfaction, commitment, accommodation, and dissolution consideration. These data provide insights into the mechanisms by which implicit theories influence relationship functioning and establish implicit theories as an individual-level antecedent to the self-expansion experience.

scholarly journals Singlehood and Attunement of Self-Esteem to Friendships

2021 ◽  
pp. 194855062098846
Author(s):  
Alexandra N. Fisher ◽  
Danu Anthony Stinson ◽  
Joanne V. Wood ◽  
John G. Holmes ◽  
Jessica J. Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Multilevel Modeling ◽  
Mediation Analysis ◽  
Friendship Quality ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Over Time

Romantic relationships activate a process of psychological attunement whereby self-esteem becomes responsive to the romantic bond, thereby potentially benefitting relationship quality and bolstering self-esteem. Yet some people are romantically single, raising the question: Do single people also exhibit psychological attunement? In a 2-year longitudinal study of young adults ( N = 279), we test whether singles psychologically attune to their friendships. Multilevel modeling revealed that within-person fluctuations in friendship quality predicted within-person fluctuations in self-esteem, and this association was stronger for singles than for partnered people. A cross-sectional mediation analysis also revealed that singles invested more in their friendships than partnered people, and greater friendship investment predicted greater friendship quality and self-esteem later on. Finally, singles maintain their friendship quality over time while partnered people experience declines. Taken together, these results suggest that singles are psychologically attuned to their friendships, and such attunement may benefit their belongingness and self-esteem.

scholarly journals Augmenting the Clinical Data Sources for Enigmatic Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Study of Self-Tracking Data and Clinical Documentation in Endometriosis

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (05) ◽  
pp. 769-784
Author(s):  
Ipek Ensari ◽  
Adrienne Pichon ◽  
Sharon Lipsky-Gorman ◽  
Suzanne Bakken ◽  
Noémie Elhadad
Keyword(s):  
Additional Data ◽  
Intraclass Correlation ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Daily Function ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Background Self-tracking through mobile health technology can augment the electronic health record (EHR) as an additional data source by providing direct patient input. This can be particularly useful in the context of enigmatic diseases and further promote patient engagement. Objectives This study aimed to investigate the additional information that can be gained through direct patient input on poorly understood diseases, beyond what is already documented in the EHR. Methods This was an observational study including two samples with a clinically confirmed endometriosis diagnosis. We analyzed data from 6,925 women with endometriosis using a research app for tracking endometriosis to assess prevalence of self-reported pain problems, between- and within-person variability in pain over time, endometriosis-affected tasks of daily function, and self-management strategies. We analyzed data from 4,389 patients identified through a large metropolitan hospital EHR to compare pain problems with the self-tracking app and to identify unique data elements that can be contributed via patient self-tracking. Results Pelvic pain was the most prevalent problem in the self-tracking sample (57.3%), followed by gastrointestinal-related (55.9%) and lower back (49.2%) pain. Unique problems that were captured by self-tracking included pain in ovaries (43.7%) and uterus (37.2%). Pain experience was highly variable both across and within participants over time. Within-person variation accounted for 58% of the total variance in pain scores, and was large in magnitude, based on the ratio of within- to between-person variability (0.92) and the intraclass correlation (0.42). Work was the most affected daily function task (49%), and there was significant within- and between-person variability in self-management effectiveness. Prevalence rates in the EHR were significantly lower, with abdominal pain being the most prevalent (36.5%). Conclusion For enigmatic diseases, patient self-tracking as an additional data source complementary to EHR can enable learning from the patient to more accurately and comprehensively evaluate patient health history and status.

scholarly journals Values and Virtues as Correlates of Quality and Stability of Romantic Relationships and Marriage in a Post-Socialist Transitional Society

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 289
Author(s):  
Maja Kus Ambrož ◽  
Jana Suklan ◽  
Dejan Jelovac
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Intimate Relationship ◽  
The Self ◽  
Subjective Perception ◽  
Relationship Stability ◽  
Value System ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Empirical Survey ◽  
Transitional Society

An individual’s value system plays an important role in their intimate relationship or marriage. Most marital satisfaction research to date has been carried out in high-income liberal Western societies. We conducted an original quantitative empirical survey of virtues and values to examine their effect on relationship quality and stability in a sample of 511 respondents from Slovenia, a post-socialist society in transition. The results showed that respondents rated health, love, and safety at the top of their hierarchy of values. The key finding was that the presence of love was associated with an individual’s subjective perception of relationship quality but had no effect on the self-evaluation of relationship stability. In addition to love, both family safety and comfort were significant correlates of relationship quality while self-respect was negatively correlated with relationship quality. Only excitement was found to have a statistically significant effect on relationship stability.

Is self-esteem a resource for the parental couple? A longitudinal study on the quality of the romantic and coparental relationships

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 3773-3795
Author(s):  
Nahema El Ghaziri ◽  
Joëlle Darwiche ◽  
Jean-Philippe Antonietti
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
The Self ◽  
Family Unit ◽  
The Family ◽  
Parental Couple ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

The aim of this study is to investigate the longitudinal influence of self-esteem on romantic and coparental relationship quality. The data were drawn from the German Family Panel, pairfam. Parents ( n couples = 2,364) were assessed three times over 4 years. The results indicated that romantic and coparental quality decreased over time, while self-esteem remained stable. The self-esteem of both parents predicted initial romantic and coparental quality. Additionally, mothers’ self-esteem reduced the decline in romantic quality. Finally, romantic quality mediated the relationship between parents’ self-esteem and coparental quality. These results suggest that self-esteem might be a resource for the parental couple and even for the family unit, as romantic and coparental quality are key elements for the well-being of both parent and child.

scholarly journals Changes in Occupational Tasks and Their Association with Individual Wages and Occupational Mobility

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. e295-e328
Author(s):  
Alexandra Fedorets
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Occupational Mobility ◽  
Wage Growth ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Proximity Measure ◽  
Wage Dynamics ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Occupational Tasks ◽  
Over Time

Abstract This study provides novel evidence on the relevance of task content changes between and within occupations to wage dynamics of occupational changers and stayers. I use individual-level, cross-sectional data featuring tasks performed on the job to compute a measure of proximity of job contents. Then, I merge this measure to a large-scale panel survey to show that occupational changers experience a wage growth that is declining when the accompanying alterations in task contents are big. For occupational stayers, alterations in task contents generate a positive wage component, beyond tenure effect. However, the results are not robust with respect to the choice of proximity measure and over time.

Self-employment and Civic Inclination

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 719-737
Author(s):  
F. Carson Mencken ◽  
Bethany Smith ◽  
Charles M. Tolbert
Keyword(s):  
Regression Models ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
The Self ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
County Level ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Building Community

We test whether the self-employed have higher levels of civic inclination (trust, political activism, community closeness, community participation) compared to workers from the private sector. We examine the civic inclinations of the self-employed with two national cross-sectional data sets. We use a variety of discrete and continuous regression models. We find that the self-employed have higher levels of political activism, feel closer to neighbors and family, and have greater odds of engaging to solve community problems. We fail to detect differences in donating money, attending community events, and closeness to friends. Previous research has concluded with county-level data that the self-employed are important actors in building community and creating social capital. Our results add to this literature by showing that the self-employed have higher levels of civic inclination with individual-level data. Implications for theory and research are discussed.

Longitudinal Surveys

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Sunshine Hillygus ◽  
Steven Snell
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Panel Surveys ◽  
Longitudinal Surveys ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Level Change ◽  
The Social ◽  
Panel Attrition ◽  
Panel Conditioning ◽  
Over Time

Longitudinal or panel surveys, in which the same individuals are interviewed repeatedly over time, are increasingly common in the social sciences. The benefit of such surveys is that they track the same respondents so that researchers can measure individual-level change over time, offering greater causal leverage than cross-sectional surveys. Panel surveys share the challenges of other surveys while also facing several unique issues in design, implementation, and analysis. This chapter considers three such challenges: (1) the tension between continuity and innovation in the questionnaire design; (2) panel attrition, whereby some individuals who complete the first wave of the survey fail to participate in subsequent waves; and (3) specific types of measurement error—panel conditioning and seam bias. It includes an overview of these issues and their implications for data quality and outlines approaches for diagnosing and correcting for these issues in the design and analysis of panel surveys.

On the strength of ties that bind: Measuring the strength of norms in romantic relationships

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 906-931
Author(s):  
John K. Sakaluk ◽  
Monica Biernat ◽  
Bonnie M. Le ◽  
Sarah Lundy ◽  
Emily A. Impett
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Close Relationships ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Romantic Couples ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Strength Of Ties ◽  
New Perspective

In seven studies ( ncross-sectional = 1,699, nlongitudinal = 118), we developed a measure of relationship norm strength defined as qualities that make the rules and expectations in romantic couples more or less likely to be followed. In our six cross-sectional samples, the resulting Relationship Norm Strength Questionnaire (RNSQ) yielded consistent norm tractability, norm agreement, anticipated punishment for deviance, and norm explicitness factors, and estimated factors generally demonstrated evidence of convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity. Meta-analyzed effects across these samples—yielding more reliable and generalizable estimates—indicated that greater norm tractability and norm agreement were strongly linked to higher levels of relationship quality. Further supporting our model of relationship norm functioning, results from our 8-week longitudinal study of community members in relationships indicated that greater levels of norm tractability and agreement resulted in greater subsequent norm conformity. Taken together, our results suggest that relationship norm strength offers a promising new perspective on relational well-being and can add to a more comprehensive account of normative processes in close relationships.

Secrets, Psychological Health, and the Fear of Discovery

2020 ◽  
pp. 014616722094619
Author(s):  
Christopher G. Davis ◽  
Hannah Brazeau ◽  
Elisabeth Bailin Xie ◽  
Kathleen McKee
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Multilevel Modeling ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Longitudinal Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Over Time

Keeping secrets from one’s partner has been associated with lower well-being and relationship satisfaction. Previous research has suggested that individual differences in self-concealment account for these effects. However, we propose that the fear of discovery (FoD)—defined as the fear that one’s secret may be revealed by means other than deliberate disclosure—predicts the extent to which secrets affect well-being beyond the effects attributable to individual differences. Both a cross-sectional and a longitudinal survey (combined N = 471; 54.4% female; Mage = 39.5) of adults in romantic relationships confirmed that FoD predicted greater preoccupation with the secret, more negative affect, and less relationship satisfaction and commitment beyond that of self-concealment. Multilevel modeling in Study 2 indicated that changes in FoD predicted changes in preoccupation over time. The data are consistent with the notion that FoD promotes greater preoccupation, greater negative affect, and lower levels of relationship well-being.

Adapted Self-Affirmation and Conflict Management in Romantic Relationships

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Schumann ◽  
Emily Grace Ritchie ◽  
Anna Dragotta
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
The Self ◽  
Relationship Functioning ◽  
Romantic Couples ◽  
Constructive Conflict ◽  
Big Picture ◽  
Destructive Conflict ◽  
One Year ◽  
Self Protection ◽  
At Will

Conflict can threaten our romantic relationships if managed ineffectively. Because destructive conflict responses are often fueled by self-protection motives, we theorized that protecting the self via self-affirmation could foster more constructive conflict responses. But how might people spontaneously use self-affirmation to improve their conflict practices? In a longitudinal intervention study (N=242) with romantic couples, we tested whether instructing partners to place themselves in the frame of mind that self-affirmation theoretically fosters—a big-picture focus that cultivates an expansive view of the self and reflection on one’s important values—could help people manage their conflicts more effectively. Compared to a control condition, couples who were instructed to take this “big-picture” focus reported more constructive conflict responses (e.g., empathy; responsiveness) and greater relationship functioning (e.g., higher relationship quality; lower avoidance) both immediately and one year after the intervention. This study thus offers a strategy people can use at will to improve their relationships.

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