Exploring how exchange orientation affects conflict and intimacy in the daily life of romantic couples

We test the hypothesis that partners’ tendency to “keep score” in a relationship–as reflected in their exchange orientation–will moderate the effect of daily conflicts on their relationship evaluations. Cohabitating romantic partners (N = 82 couples) participated in a 28-day daily diary study. Partners higher in exchange orientation showed lower intimacy with their partner on days with conflict compared to days without conflict; the effect was attenuated for partners lower in exchange orientation. This result held even while adjusting for daily negative affect. We conclude that close monitoring of costs and benefits in a relationship, a characteristic of partners with high exchange orientation, may lead partners to overreact to simple daily conflicts, to the detriment of relationship evaluations.

Emotional approach coping and daily support behavior in romantic relationships

People differ in the degree to which they seek emotional support from romantic partners during times of stress. Moreover, receiving emotional support from partners is not always beneficial. Emotional approach coping (EAC)—the tendency to cope with stress by processing and expressing emotions—may play an important role in determining who seeks and who benefits from emotional support. This report used dyadic data from a two-week daily diary study ( N = 116 couples) to determine if those higher in EAC seek more emotional support, receive more emotional support, and perceive the support they receive from romantic partners as more effective than those lower in EAC. Further, we examined if these associations are stronger on days of above average perceived stress. Finally, we examined if participants higher in EAC, were more likely to benefit from receiving emotional support. Participants higher in EAC were more likely to seek emotional support from their partners. After adjusting for emotional support seeking, EAC was unrelated to receiving emotional support; however, participants higher in EAC rated the emotional support they received as more effective. Although participants reported greater individual well-being and higher relationship satisfaction on days they received emotional support from their partners, EAC did not moderate these associations. Taken together, these results suggest that people higher in EAC are more likely to experience benefits from receiving support because they seek more emotional support and report receiving more effective emotional support from their partners.

Age Differences in Positive Event Appraisals during COVID-19: Evidence from a Daily Diary Study

Multiple studies suggest that community-dwelling older adults are psychologically resilient in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, during the initial weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak, older age was associated with engaging in more daily positive events (Klaiber et al., 2021, Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences). We followed up on these findings by exploring age differences in positive event appraisals during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the 7-day diary study conducted between March and August 2020, 1036 participants (mean age = 45.95, SD = 16.04, range = 18-91) reported their positive events in nightly surveys. If at least one positive event occurred, participants rated their appraisals of the event on the following dimensions: importance, calmness, happiness, gratitude, personal responsibility, and control. Older adults (60 years+) rated their positive events to be more personally important and felt more calm and happy during these events, compared to younger (18-39 years) and middle-aged adults (40-59 years). Furthermore, older adults felt more grateful during positive events compared to younger but not middle-aged adults. There were no age differences in feelings of control or personal responsibility for positive events. These findings highlight the importance of daily positive events for older adults during a time of major stress. In line with theories on adult development, daily positive event processes in older adults are characterized by valuing positive and meaningful social connections, as well as a greater degree of positive event-specific emotions such as feeling calm, happy, and grateful.

Nostalgia for a Purpose? A Comparison of Three Theoretical Frameworks in a Lifespan Sample

Nostalgia is a common experience for most people, but the functions or motivations for nostalgia are unclear. Several theoretical arguments for the purpose of nostalgia have been offered: nostalgia may reduce anxiety or fear of mortality (i.e., Terror Management Theory), resolve developmental conflicts (i.e., ego-integrity vs. despair), or provide a touchstone to the past (i.e., self-continuity). The goal of this study was to compare these theoretical frameworks among young (YA), middle-aged (MA), and older adults’(OA) descriptions of nostalgia and explore whether content of nostalgia differs by age. We hypothesized that YA would report greater amounts of nostalgia related to self-continuity, MA would report more integrity-related nostalgia, and OA would report more Terror Management. Nostalgia recordings (N=593) were collected during a two-week daily diary study in 108 participants (ages 18-78 years; 60.2% women). Recordings were transcribed and then coded by two trained coders (Magreement=87.4%; κ=.66, p<.001) using a rubric containing three typologies of nostalgia: Terror Management, Integrity v. Despair, Self-Continuity. Only n=255 transcripts could be coded within these typologies. Supporting our hypotheses, YA reported more self-continuity (51.5%) than Integrity (39.4%) or Terror Management (9.1%), and MA reported more Integrity (42.0%), than self-continuity (39.5%) or Terror Management (18.5%). Our third hypothesis was not supported: OA reported self-continuity most frequently (47.5%), followed by Integrity (31.9%) and Terror Management (20.6%). Nostalgia may provide a vehicle for self-reflection as people compare the past to the present, and future research should examine whether emphasis on different types of nostalgia has implications for psychological outcomes like wellbeing.

The Relationship Between Social Media Use and Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Social Support

Frequent social media usage can have negative effects on well-being, but the mechanisms involved are unclear. This study explored the mediating role of giving and receiving support. Using the Midlife in the United States Refresher eight-day daily diary study (N=782, age 25-75), multilevel structural equation modeling examined the hypothesized relationships at both the within- (intraindividual) and between-person (interindividual) levels. Results showed that at the within-person level, days with more social media use were associated with a larger proportion of time giving support and worse well-being (less positive affect and more stress, negative affect, and loneliness). At the between-person level, more social media use was associated with worse well-being. Giving support, but not receiving support, mediated the relationship between social media use and well-being at the within, but not the between-person level. Discussion focuses on ways to address the negative consequences of social media use related to social connections and well-being.

Perceiving More Age-Related Losses? The Role of General Control Beliefs and Daily Disturbance to Plans

We examined daily fluctuations in future time perspective within the daily stress and awareness of aging processes. Awareness of age-related change (AARC) focuses on everyday experiences that highlight changes in behavior and functioning as a result of growing older. We integrated individual differences in control beliefs because those with higher control tend to be more resilient to stressors. We conducted a daily diary study of 112 older adults (aged 60-90) who completed measures of control beliefs at baseline and then daily measures of stressor exposure, appraisal (e.g., threats to future plans), and AARC for eight consecutive days. Increases in threats to future plans were associated with increases in AARC losses, and those with low control were especially vulnerable to increases in threats to future plans. With a constricted future time perspective, any threats to future plans may be especially harmful for older adults who are low in control beliefs.