Support gaps during the COVID-19 pandemic: Sex differences and effects on well-being

During times of stress, supportive communication can buffer individuals from experiencing negative outcomes. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has substantially altered the interactions people rely on for support, which may influence the supportive messages they desire and receive. When people receive quantities of support that differ from what they desire, they experience support gaps, which are often associated with negative outcomes. The present study examines: (a) support gaps in close relationships under shelter-in-place orders issued in response to the pandemic; (b) how support gaps may be moderated by recipient and provider sex; and (c) relationships between support gaps and loneliness, stress, and relational satisfaction. Data were collected in Spring 2020 from community members across the United States and students at a large Midwestern university ( N = 273). Participants reported on five types of support desired and received from their closest relational partner. Unexpectedly, participants generally reported receiving more support than desired, though this finding was qualified by their biological sex and the biological sex of their partner. As expected, support deficits were primarily associated with negative outcomes. Surplus esteem support was positively associated with relational satisfaction and negatively associated with perceived stress. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical implications for support gaps research and theory as well as pragmatic implications for individuals experiencing a global, shared stressor.

The relational logic of moral inference

How do we make inferences about the moral character of others? Here we review recent work on the cognitive mechanisms of moral inference and impression updating. We show that moral inference follows basic principles of Bayesian inference, but also departs from the standard Bayesian model in ways that may facilitate the maintenance of social relationships. Moral inference is not only sensitive to whether people make moral decisions, but also to features of decisions that reveal their suitability as a relational partner. Together these findings suggest that moral inference follows a relational logic: people form and update moral impressions in ways that are responsive to the demands of ongoing social relationships and particular social roles. We discuss implications of these findings for theories of moral cognition and identify new directions for research on human morality and person perception.

Relational surprise experiences as a unique form of relational maintenance

This study presents an initial exploration and conceptualization of relational surprise experiences (RSEs) as communication phenomenon involving strategic relational maintenance behaviors with potential for positive and negative outcomes. University students in the Southeastern United States (N = 203) described a RSE that occurred with a close relational partner (romantic partner, friend, or family member), explained how deception was used to achieve the surprise, and reported relational benefits and drawbacks in an online survey. Seven types of RSEs were reported including gifts, events, visits, and destinations. Responses revealed that people considered surprises as relationally beneficial with minimal drawbacks. Although over one-third of the participants described their partner’s pants perceived the surprise as a violation of relational rules. Some participants reported both benefits and drawbacks to RSEs, thereby illuminating a nuance for traditional relational maintenance typologies. This study establishes a path to explore implications of RSEs for individual and relational satisfaction, happiness, and well-being.

Wanna Hear a Secret?: The Burden of Secret Concealment in Personal Relationships From the Confidant's Perspective

The current study assessed the burden associated with secret-keeping from confidants’ perspective. We proposed a cognition-affect-relationship model to explicate the interrelations between intra- and interpersonal consequences of confidants’ secret concealment. A total of 231 participants (Mage = 32.6 years) completed a survey on their experiences in keeping secrets for a close relational partner. A path model was conducted to test all hypotheses simultaneously. Results indicated that secret importance, valence, and negative face threat served as indicators of cognitive burden regarding secret-keeping. As predicted, cognitive burden was positively associated with negative affect. In addition, negative affect mediated the association between cognitive burden and relationship satisfaction, whereas secret characteristics were directly related to relational distancing. Overall, examining confidant burden provides insights on how secret-keeping might affect individuals and their relationships.

Imagined Interactions

Imagined interactions (IIs) are a process of social cognition and mental imagery in which individuals imagine and therefore indirectly experience themselves in anticipated and/or past communicative encounters with others. They have been studied in intergroup communication in terms of communication apprehension (CA), group conflict, teasing and bullying, cross-cultural differences, political partisanship, and sexual orientation. They have their theoretical foundation in the work of classic symbolic interactionists and phenomenologists, as well as cognitive script theory. IIs possess many of the same attributes as real conversations, in that they may be fragmentary, extended, rambling, repetitive, or coherent. They are a means of problem solving by allowing an individual to think through a problem. There are 14 features of IIs, comprised of eight attributes (frequency, proactivity, retroactivity, valence, discrepancy, self-dominance, variety, and specificity) and six functions (compensation, rehearsal, understanding, conflict linkage, relational maintenance, and catharsis). Brief descriptions of the functions follow: They compensate for lack of real interaction, they maintain conflict as well as resolving it, they are used to rehearse messages for future interaction, they aid people in self-understanding through clarifying attitudes and beliefs, they provide emotional catharsis by relieving tension, and they help maintain relationships through intrusive thinking about a relational partner outside of their physical presence. In terms of the attributes, frequency represents how often people experience them. Proactivity and retroactivity are concerned with the timing of the II in relation to actual conversations. Proactive IIs occur before an anticipated encounter, while retroactive IIs occur afterward. Retroactivity is very common in films and movies in which characters have flashbacks. Proactive and retroactive IIs can occur simultaneously, as individuals replay prior conversations in their minds while preparing for ensuing interactions. Discrepancy occurs when what was imagined is different from what happens in actual conversations. Since IIs can be used for message planning, most of the imaginary talk comes from the self, with less emphasis being placed on listening to what the interaction partner says. This reflects the self-dominance attribute. The variety characteristic of IIs reflects individual differences in the number of topics that are discussed in the IIs and whom they involve. IIs tend to occur with significant others such as relational partners, family, and friends. They do not occur with people whom we rarely see. Valence reflects how positive or negative the emotions are while having an II. Finally, IIs vary in their specificity, or how vague the imagined lines of dialogue are, as well as the setting where the imaginary encounter occurs.

Warm Ideas and Chilling Consequences

In the process of writing my academic memoirs spanning a period of more than thirty-five years, I discovered how crucial the work of Gregory Bateson had been to my life as a teacher, a scholar, and a relational partner. In this paper I celebrate Bateson's charming and incisive ideas about how communication works, his deep reservations about the worship of quantification, and his astute analysis of what is at stake when we make epistemological errors in everyday life. Reviewing a turning point in my academic life—a conference held in 1979, I reaffirm the importance of warm ideas and provide a story that illustrates the potentially monstrous consequences of epistemological error.

Relational Efficacy Beliefs in Athlete Dyads: An Investigation Using Actor–Partner Interdependence Models

The first purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships among three forms of relational efficacy within performing dyads, namely, self-efficacy, other-efficacy, and relation-inferred self-efficacy. The second objective was to examine the relationships between these efficacy beliefs and athletes’ perceptions of their commitment to and satisfaction with their current partnership. Participants were 120 junior tennis players (age, M = 14.30 years, SD = 1.21) performing within 60 intact pairs (i.e., doubles). Results revealed that self-efficacy and other-efficacy were predictive of athlete commitment and satisfaction, respectively. In addition, by utilizing actor–partner interdependence models, partner as well as actor effects were evident. The findings illustrate that relational efficacy beliefs may not only have implications for the individual holding such beliefs, but also for his or her relational partner. Implications for the future study of efficacy beliefs within dyadic contexts are discussed.

PARTNER PREFERENCES AMONG HOMOSEXUAL MEN AND WOMEN: WHAT IS DESIRABLE IN A SEX PARTNER IS NOT NECESSARILY DESIRABLE IN A ROMANTIC PARTNER

The present study examined the degree to which various partner characteristics are preferred by homosexual men and women in a short-term sexual relationship versus a long-term romantic relationship. A non-college sample of adults (N = 80) individually rated the desirability of various attributes in a “short-term sexual” or a “long-term romantic” partner (randomly assigned). The results indicated that participants clearly distinguished between these two types of relational partner. Specifically, and consistent with hypotheses, both men and women emphasized internal mental attributes (e.g., intellect), prosocial personality characteristics (e.g., interpersonal sensitivity, responsiveness) and characteristics reflective of family orientation (e.g., desire for children) more in a long-term romantic, than in a short-term sexual, partner. Conversely, and consistent with earlier work using heterosexual samples, men and women desired higher levels of physical appeal (e.g., physical attractiveness, sexy appearance) from a potential sex partner than from a potential romantic partner. Sex differences also were found. Men desired honesty and trustworthiness from a short-term sex partner more than did women, and women valued a long-term romantic partner's family orientation more than did men.

Shared Stories of the Grandparent-Grandchild Relationship

This research examined the storytelling that oftentimes characterizes interaction between grandparent and grandchild. Close to 120 individuals (college students) audiotaped an interaction with one of their grandparents. They were asked to have their grandparent first “tell a story that captures the meaning of life” for them. In addition, the grandparent was asked to complete the phrase, “To me, life is like_____.” the students were asked to tell their grandparent “a story that captured the essence of their life at this time in their life.” Students were divided into similar numbers of same and mixed sex grandparent-grandchild relationships. The audiotaped interactions were content analyzed. A major assumption of this investigation is that the story which each individual chooses to share with their relational partner reveals to some extent the definitional nature of their relationship. Results of the storysharing interaction across relations revealed some gender differences in the types of stories grandparents share with their grandchildren. The implications of the shared stories upon the relational dynamics of the grandparent-grandchild relationship are discussed. In addition, the metaphors used by the grandparents to describe life in the presence of their grandchildren are analyzed.