How Responsiveness From a Communication Partner Affects Story Retell in Aphasia: Quantitative and Qualitative Findings

Purpose Because people with aphasia (PWA) frequently interact with partners who are unresponsive to their communicative attempts, we investigated how partner responsiveness affects quantitative measures of spoken language and subjective reactions during story retell. Method A quantitative study and a qualitative study were conducted. In Study 1, participants with aphasia and controls retold short stories to a communication partner who indicated interest through supportive backchannel responses (responsive) and another who indicated disinterest through unsupportive backchannel responses (unresponsive). Story retell accuracy, delivery speed, and ratings of psychological stress were measured and compared. In Study 2, participants completed semistructured interviews about their story retell experience, which were recorded, transcribed, and coded using qualitative analysis software. Results Quantitative results revealed increased psychological stress and decreased delivery speed across all participant groups during the unresponsive partner condition. Effects on delivery speed were more consistent for controls than participants with aphasia. Qualitative results revealed that participants with aphasia were more attuned to unresponsive partner behaviors than controls and reported stronger and more frequent emotional reactions. Partner responsiveness also affected how PWA perceived and coped with the communication experience. Conclusions Combined quantitative and qualitative findings suggest that, while unresponsive communication partners may not have robust effects on spoken language, they elicit strong emotional reactions from PWA and affect their communication experience. These findings support the need for communication partner training and suggest that training PWA on emotion regulation or relaxation techniques may help assuage their anxiety during socially challenging everyday communication and increase social participation. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.11368028

Truth and Wishful Thinking: How Inter-Individual Differences in Communal Motives Manifest in Momentary Partner Perceptions

Although rooted in reality, partner perceptions often reflect wishful thinking due toperceivers’ needs. Dispositional needs, or motives, can differ between persons; however, little is known about their differential associations with everyday partner perception. The present study used data from a four-week experience sampling study (N = up to 60,942 surveys from 510 individuals nested in 259 couples) to examine the effects of perceivers’ partner-related implicit and explicit communal motives on the perception of (a) global communal partner behavior and (b) specific communal and uncommunal partner behaviors. The results of truth and bias models of judgment and quasi-signal detection analyses indicate that strong implicit communal approach motives and strong explicit communal motives are associated with the tendency to overestimate the partner’s communal behavior. Additionally, strong implicit communal approach motives were associated with the tendency to avoid perceptions of uncommunal partner behavior. Neither implicit nor explicit communal motives had an effect on accuracy in the perception of particularly communal partner behavior. The results highlight the relevance of both implicit and explicit communal motives for momentary partner perceptions and emphasize the benefits of dyadic micro-longitudinal designs for a better understanding of the mechanisms through which individual differences manifest in couples’ everyday lives.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EMOTIONAL CAPITAL ACROSS THE LIFESPAN: WHY THE LITTLE MOMENTS IN MARRIAGE MATTER

Throughout a marriage, couples will share countless ordinary moments together, such as laughing together or engaging in leisure activities. Although these moments may seem trivial in isolation, research suggests that accumulating small positive moments together helps couples build emotional capital, which serves as an essential resource for protecting marriages from the harmful consequences of relationship challenges. This study explored whether emotional capital may buffer couples not only from the negative effects of relational stressors, but also from the negative effects of life stressors encountered outside the relationship in a sample of younger (age 30-45) and older (age 60+) married couples. Drawing from theories of socioemotional expertise, we also examined whether the buffering effects of emotional capital may be stronger for older adults. One hundred forty-five couples completed a 21-day daily diary task assessing shared positive experiences with the partner, negative partner behaviors, marital satisfaction, life stress, and mood. Spouses who generally accrued more shared positive moments with their partner across the diary days maintained greater marital satisfaction on days of greater partner negativity compared to spouses who accrued fewer positive moments. Moreover, spouses who generally accrued more shared positive moments with their partner across the diary days also reported lower levels of negative mood on days in which they experienced more life stress compared to spouses who accrued fewer shared positive moments; in both cases, the buffering role of emotional capital was significantly stronger for older adults. All results held when adjusting for relationship length and general marital happiness.

How Do I Help My Partner in Pain? Partners’ Helping Behaviors Are Linked to Lower Pain and Greater Perceived Validation During an Experimental Pain Task

Background Observers’ responses to people with illness are important predictors of quality of life, yet findings are mixed regarding the types of responses that affect illness-related suffering. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine whether perspective taking positively affects observers’ responses to their romantic partner experiencing experimentally induced pain and whether responses based in Self-Determination Theory and communication models of illness are related to perceived validation and pain outcomes. Methods Undergraduate romantic couples (N = 122) completed baseline questionnaires; then one partner was randomly assigned to complete the cold pressor task, whereas the other partner observed. Couples were randomly assigned to one of two groups: a perspective-taking group in which observers were privately instructed to take the perspective of the pain participant or a control group. Afterward, both partners completed surveys, and pain participants completed a video recall task in which they recalled partner behaviors that were coded by trained raters using a theoretically derived manual. Results Pain participants in the perspective-taking group identified significantly less invalidating communication from their partners, fewer behaviors that thwarted their competence, and more behaviors that supported their autonomy. Across groups, pain participants who received more normalizing communication that supported their competence felt more validated by their partners, had lower pain intensity, and exhibited greater pain tolerance, whereas those who received more invalidation showed worse outcomes. Conclusions The results from this study suggest that attention to different types of partner behaviors is essential when developing behavioral medicine treatments for pain and illness.

Power-based behaviors between supply chain partners of diverse national and organizational cultures: the crucial role of boundary spanners’ cultural intelligence

Purpose This paper aims to explain the effects of national and organizational cultures of boundary spanners on their choices of using three archetype power-based behaviors – dominance, egalitarian and submissive – with supply chain partners. Improved outcomes for global supply chain (GSC) partners are anticipated due to the ways that cultural intelligence affects these culturally guided decisions. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on multiple streams of literature and focusing on boundary spanners in GSCs, the authors build a conceptual framework that highlights cultural antecedents of predispositions toward power-based behaviors and explains the moderating role of cultural intelligence of boundary spanners on behaviors performed. Findings The authors propose that boundary spanners’ national and organizational cultural values influence predispositions toward applying and accepting power-based behaviors. They also discuss how cultural intelligence moderates the relationship between culturally determined predispositions and power-based behaviors applied by partners. The cultural intelligence of boundary spanners is argued to have a pivotal role in making power-based decisions, resulting in healthier cross-cultural buyer–supplier relationships. Originality/value This paper is the first paper to advance an understanding of the cultural antecedents of boundary spanners’ power-based behaviors that are exercised and interpreted by partners in GSCs. Furthermore, the potential role of cultural intelligence in inter-organizational power dynamics and power-based partner behaviors in supply chains has not previously been discussed.

The importance of investing in your relationship: Emotional capital and responses to partner transgressions

Throughout their relationship, couples experience a myriad of small positive moments together, such as sharing leisure activities or laughing with one another. Although these moments may seem trivial in isolation, growing research suggests that accumulating positive moments together helps couples build emotional capital, which can buffer them from the harmful consequences of relationship difficulties. The current study examined two potential mechanisms, relationship attributions and forgiveness, for this buffering effect. Newlywed couples reported their relationships attributions and forgiveness tendencies and completed a 10-day daily diary task assessing emotional capital, negative partner behaviors, and marital satisfaction. Consistent with previous research, spouses who reported accumulating more emotional capital on average across the diary task exhibited a weaker association between their partners’ daily negative behaviors and their daily satisfaction. Extending prior work, path analyses revealed a significant indirect effect of emotional capital on reactivity through relationship attributions and forgiveness. That is, spouses who reported more emotional capital tended to make more benevolent and forgiving interpretations of their partners’ behaviors, which in turn predicted reduced reactivity to partners’ transgressions. These findings contribute to a growing literature illuminating the critical role everyday shared positive moments may play in enhancing relationship well-being.

Effect of a Responsiveness-Based Support Intervention on Smokeless Tobacco Cessation: The UCare-ChewFree Randomized Clinical Trial

Introduction Partner behaviors and attitudes can motivate or undermine a tobacco user’s cessation efforts. We developed a multimedia intervention, UCare (Understanding-CAring-REspect) for women who wanted their male partner to quit smokeless tobacco (ST), based on perceived partner responsiveness—the empirically based theory that support is best received when the supporter conveys respect, understanding, and caring. Methods One thousand one hundred three women were randomized to receive either immediate access to the UCare website and printed booklet (Intervention; N = 552), or a Delayed Treatment control (N = 551). We assessed supportive behaviors and attitudes at baseline and 6-week follow-up, and the ST-using partner’s abstinence at 6 weeks and 7.5 months (surrogate report). Results For partners of women assigned to Intervention, 7.0% had quit all tobacco at 7.5 months, compared with 6.6% for control (χ2 (1, n = 1088) = .058, p = .810). For partners of women completing the intervention, 12.4% had quit all tobacco at 7.5 months, compared with 6.6% for Delayed Treatment (χ2 (1, n = 753) = 6.775, p = .009). A previously reported change in responsiveness-based behaviors and instrumental behaviors at 6 weeks mediated 7.5-month cessation, and change in responsiveness-based attitudes mediated the change in responsiveness-based behaviors, indirectly increasing cessation. Conclusions A responsiveness-based intervention with female partners of male ST users improved supportive attitudes and behaviors, leading to higher cessation rates among tobacco users not actively seeking to quit. The study demonstrates the potential for responsiveness as a basis for effective intervention with supporters. This approach may reach tobacco users who would not directly seek help. Implications This study demonstrates the value of a responsiveness-based intervention (showing respect, understanding, and caring) in training partners to provide support for a loved one to quit ST. In a randomized clinical trial, 1,103 women married to or living with a ST user were randomized to receive the UCare-ChewFree intervention (website + booklet) or a Delayed Treatment control. Women completing the intervention were more likely to improve their behaviors and attitudes, and change in behaviors and attitudes mediated cessation outcomes for their partners, who had not enrolled in the study and may not have been seeking to quit. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01885221

Effect of a Responsiveness-based support intervention on smokeless tobacco cessation: The UCare-ChewFree randomized clinical trial

Introduction. Partner behaviors and attitudes can motivate and encourage, or conversely undermine, a tobacco user’s cessation efforts. Previous partner support interventions for tobacco cessation have largely focused on positive and negative behaviors. We developed a theoretically based intervention (UCare) for women who wanted their male partner to quit smokeless tobacco, based on perceived partner responsiveness--the finding that support is best received when the supporter conveys respect, understanding, and caring.Methods. We recruited 1,145 women and randomized them to receive either immediate access to the UCare website and printed booklet (Intervention), or to a Delayed Treatment control. We assessed supportive behaviors and attitudes at baseline and six-week follow-up, and the ST-using partner's abstinence at six weeks and 7.5 months (surrogate report).Results. For partners of women assigned to Intervention, 7.0% had quit all tobacco at 7.5 months, compared with 6.6% for control (n.s.). For partners of women completing the intervention, 12.4% had quit all tobacco at 7.5 months, compared with 6.6% for Delayed Treatment (p<.01). Change in responsiveness-based behaviors and instrumental behaviors at six weeks mediated 7.5-month cessation, and change in responsiveness-based attitudes mediated the change in responsiveness-based behaviors, indirectly increasing cessation.Conclusions. A responsiveness-based intervention with female partners of male smokeless tobacco users improved supportive attitudes and behaviors, leading to higher cessation rates among tobacco users not actively seeking to quit. The study demonstrates the potential for responsiveness as a basis for effective intervention with supporters, and this approach may reach tobacco users who would not directly seek help.