Forgiveness through Writing

Research has identified that writing can help individuals find forgiveness for their romantic partners in the wake of relational transgressions, but little is known about the actual narrative components that bring about changes in forgiveness. The current study sought to investigate the narrative components that contribute to month-long changes in forgiveness for romantic partners who have recently experienced a relational transgression. It also sought to uncover emotional and biological mechanisms that can help account for the associations between narrative components and forgiveness outcomes. The results revealed components of narratives that may both contribute to an increase and decrease in forgiveness over the course of one-month. Additionally, emotional expression and testosterone were identified as potential mediators and moderators of the associations between narrative components and changes in forgiveness.

Examining the Longitudinal Associations Between Repeated Narration of Recent Transgressions Within Individuals’ Romantic Relationships and Character Growth in Empathy, Humility, and Compassion

This prospective longitudinal study examined whether repeated written narration of relational transgressions was associated with increases in empathy, humility, and compassion over 1 year. Although engagement in reflective and meaning-making processing styles has been theorized to facilitate adversarial growth existing research has been limited by methodological issues and has yet to examine whether this mechanism is associated with character trait changes over time. Participants provided ratings of trait empathy, humility, and compassion in 5 waves at 3-month intervals. In Wave 2, participants provided a written narrative describing a recent relational transgression against their romantic partner. Participants then engaged in repeated narration of recent romantic transgressions in Waves 3 through 5. The narratives were coded for redemption, positive self-event connections, and degree of personal responsibility taken. Linear growth curve models were used to examine the extent to which these narrative themes were associated with character growth. Overall, there was little consistent and robust evidence across models that narration was associated with changes in empathy, humility, and compassion. The implications for research into adversarial growth are discussed in reference to the appropriateness of operationalizing adversarial growth as character growth and the extent to which relational transgressions can facilitate adversarial growth.

Examining the Longitudinal Associations between Repeated Narration of Recent Transgressions Within Individuals’ Romantic Relationships and Character Growth in Empathy, Humility and Compassion

This prospective longitudinal study examined whether repeated written narration of relational transgressions was associated with increases in empathy, humility and compassion over one year. Although engagement in reflective and meaning-making processing styles has been theorized to facilitate adversarial growth after adversity, existing research has been limited by methodological issues and has yet to examine whether this mechanism is associated with character trait changes over time. Participants provided ratings of trait empathy, humility and compassion in 5 waves at 3-month intervals. In wave 2, participants provided a written narrative describing a recent relational transgression against their romantic partner. Participants then engaged in repeated narration of recent romantic transgressions in waves 3 through 5. The narratives were coded for redemption, positive self-event connections and degree of personal responsibility taken. Linear growth curve models were used to examine the extent to which these narrative themes were associated with character growth. Overall, there was little consistent and robust evidence across models that narration was associated with changes in empathy, humility and compassion. The implications for research into adversarial growth are discussed in reference to the appropriateness of operationalizing adversarial growth as character growth and the extent to which relational transgressions can facilitate adversarial growth.

Relational turbulence and psychological distress in romantic relationships in the military

To understand the process of relational turbulence and psychological distress in the context of the military, we used a grounded theory approach to analyze individuals’ experiences in online forums. Analyses revealed a process by which perceived changes in individuals’ romantic partners or their relationships and suspicions of infidelity led to a cycle of turmoil. Participants reported a tension between caring for their partner and upsetting experiences and relational transgressions, which contributed to them feeling caught in the cycle. In addition to feeling conflicted, the cycle of turmoil also encompassed relational turbulence, psychological distress, and fighting between partners. The conceptual model identified in this study has implications for both theory and practice, including underscoring the importance of relational turbulence theory and identifying feeling conflicted as a potentially viable point of intervention.

Oh Darling, This Too Shall Pass: Cyclic Perceptions of Change Keep You in Romantic Relationships Longer During Difficult Times

The present research explored how individual differences in perceptions of change (cyclic vs. linear) influence relational decisions. Three studies examined whether cyclic perceptions of change, a central feature of holistic thinking, keep people in romantic relationships longer due to the belief that hardships too shall pass. Study 1 found that cyclic perceivers reported greater endurance against relational transgressions than linear perceivers. In Studies 2a and 2b, cyclic perceivers reported fewer breakups in romantic relationships (Study 2a) and showed less willingness to break up (Study 2b) than linear perceivers due to their stronger relational endurance. Through a longitudinal examination, Study 3 evidenced that cyclic perceivers were more likely to remain in romantic relationships than linear perceivers over 1 year. The current studies provide new insight into how individual differences in perceptions of change contribute to decision-making in romantic relationships.

Who gets mad and who feels bad? Mate value discrepancies predict anger and shame in response to transgressions in romantic relationships

Mate value discrepancies (MVDs) predict multiple outcomes in romantic relationships, including relationship satisfaction, jealousy, and forgiveness. We tested the hypotheses that MVDs would predict anger and shame in response to both medium and strong transgressions within romantic relationships. Participants in long-term committed relationships read scenarios describing relational transgressions and rated how much anger and shame they would feel if they were either the victim or the perpetrator of the transgressions in their current relationship. We found partial support for our hypotheses. Victims of medium-level transgressions were angrier the more alternative potential mates there were that were closer to their ideal mate preferences than their current partner. Perpetrators of strong transgressions felt more shame the higher in mate value their partner was compared to them. Results suggest that different MVDs may predict different outcomes in relationships and highlight the importance of using functional theories of emotions to predict individual differences in emotional responses.