Institutional Scholarship :: Browsing by Subject "Interpersonal relations -- Psychological aspects"

Browsing by Subject "Interpersonal relations -- Psychological aspects"

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A Prototype Analysis of Missing in Geographically Separated Romantic Relationships: Validation and Correlates of the Experience of Missing
(2005) Johnson, Katherine; Le, Benjamin
There is a growing literature examining the functioning of geographically separated couples and missing is a common experience in long distance relationships. The purpose of Study 1 was to validate the prototype of missing established by Le et al. (2004) through the use of two cognitive memory tasks and a hypothetical relationship task using vignettes. As hypothesized, the sample (N = 92) falsely recalled and falsely recognized central terms of missing more than non-central terms. Vignettes describing relationships with central terms were rated as missing more than relationships described with non-central terms. The purpose of Study 2 was to investigate the experience of missing through the use of an internet study in couples currently separated from their romantic partner (N = 435). The measure of missing demonstrated discriminate validity from the UCLA Loneliness Scale-supporting the hypothesis that missing overlaps but is yet distinct from loneliness. Individuals who missed their partners more were more committed, more securely or anxiously attached and more dependent than those individuals who missed their partners less. Missing serves as a relationship maintenance mechanism to promote behaviors that preserve the relationship in the face of geographic separation.
A Prototype Analysis of the Concept of Missing
(2003) Adams, Sam; Le, Benjamin; Sternberg, Wendy
Missing a romantic partner is a significant aspect in many peoples' lives; however, there has not been any past research about this experience. The current study is an attempt to define and analyze this concept by using prototype analysis. In Study 1, 77 college students listed features of missing a romantic partner. In Study 2, rankings for centrality and valence of these features were collected from 71 college students. Through the analysis significant differences were discovered between how each gender defines missing. Analysis also revealed a number of relationships, and self-esteem. The study found that differences in the aforementioned sub-tests were correlated with individuals' rating of centrality and valence for the various features. This suggests that understanding how one's partner defines missing may be crucial to relationship stability and satisfaction.
Abstraction Makes the Heart Grow Fonder: The Effects of Social Power and Construal on Relationship Investments, Alternatives, and Willingness to Sacrifice
(2012) Field, James L.; Le, Benjamin
The present studies sought to explore the role of both power and construal (Smith & Trope, 2006) on specific romantic relationship predictors. Two studies, one external and one internal, used adaptations of Rusbult's (1980) investment model to explore the effects of power and construal on present and planned investments (Goodfriend & Agnew, 2008), global and specific alternatives (Simpson, 1987), and motives of sacrifice (Impett et al., 2005). Study 1 used a large and diverse sample for a correlational study, while Study 2 used a experimental design, and primed participants for high and low levels of construal. The studies found that, in general, low levels of power were associated with greater investments of all types, as well as greater willingness to sacrifice, while high power was associated greater perceived alternatives. Low construal was associated with greater perceived alternatives, while high construal was associated with greater overall investments and greater willingness to sacrifice. Overall, high construal appeared to facilitate greater positive relationship maintaining behavior. Further implications for the roles of construal and power in romantic relationships are discussed.
Answering Too Fast Or Too Slowly: Social Perceptions and Response Latency
(1993) Spieler, Jennifer
A set of two experiments investigated the effects of response latency on social attribution, and whether there is an optimal duration of response latency in which respondents are perceived as most honest, compliant, confident, and sincere. Experiment One involved a production task in which subjects adjusted the response latencies of a set of conversational dialogues to yield three durations: an optimal, a too long, and a too short. Correlational analyses on this data were insignificant, but an examination of the mean standard deviations suggested considerable inter-subject agreement on the durational values. Additionally, a regression analysis found that within-speech pauses are significant predictors of the optimal response latency. In Experiment Two ninety-six subjects listened to the adjusted conversational clips from Experiment One and made a series of social judgments about the respondents. Results suggest that an optimal response latency does exist, but such a duration is shorter than hypothesized. These findings are discussed in terms of their ramifications for conversational interaction and communication in general.
Construal Level Theory and Power Dynamics in Close Relationships
(2012) Williams, Jonathan H.; Le, Benjamin
The present studies explored the intersection of Construal Level Theory (CLT) and power dynamics in close relationships, examining their effects on investments, perception of alternatives, and willingness to sacrifice. CLT outlines the processes by which individuals consider distal events abstractly (high construal) or concretely (low construal). We define power in terms of inequalities in respective partners' dependence levels in relationships, where the more powerful partner is the one who is less dependent on the relationship. We also delved into how these two constructs affect specific types of investments (present, planned, tangible, and intangible), types of alternatives (global and specific), and motives for sacrifice (approach and avoid). Two studies were conducted: a correlational study (Study 1) and an experiment where we manipulated power and construal (Study 2), with hypotheses partially supported in Study 1. Low power and high construal were associated with more investments, fewer global alternatives, and demonstrating a greater willingness to sacrifice. The findings for construal appear to be particularly novel, as this area of the literature is somewhat sparse. Implications of our results and directions for further research are discussed.
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? Ostracism-Induced Physical Pain Sensitization in Real-Life Relationships
(2009) Dickinson, Annelise; Sternberg, Wendy
In humans, social and physical pain are believed to arise from common neural networks, an evolutionarily advantageous system for motivating prosocial behavior. As such, the hypothesis that social insult can sensitize physical pain perception was investigated in the context of real-life relationships. The social value ascribed to the source of virtual ostracism, the closeness of the relationship, and individual personality characteristics were expected to modulate the impact of social rejection upon physical pain reports. Romantic partners, friends, and strangers were all led to believe that their partners were excluding them from an online ball-tossing game, and pain sensitivity changes from baseline were assessed following this manipulation. Results indicated that ostracism by a relationship partner leads to an increase in cold pain tolerance, that romantic partners report more cold pain unpleasantness than friends following social rejection, and that trait sensitivity to social insult predicts physical pain sensitivity in general. The findings suggest that within the context of real-life relationships, the social rejection as an agent of influence upon pain behavior may not operate as cleanly as previously believed, and that further research in this area is definitely warranted. Results are interpreted with respect to several theories of social and physical pain behaviors, and suggestions for future studies are highlighted.
Empathy and Pain Sensitivity: The Influence of Empathy for Negative Affective States on Pain Sensitivity
(2011) Soule-Hinds, Andrew; Sternberg, Wendy
Empathy for pain is an established phenomenon in the behavioral as well as fMRI literature resulting in increased pain sensitivity. We sought to investigate the effects of empathy for social pain (embarrassment, ostracism) on pain sensitivity which, while explored and established in fMRI studies, remains unexamined in behavioral studies. Specifically, we examined the hypothesis that watching others being ostracized or embarrassed would increase the observer's pain ratings. Additionally, we investigated whether watching images of others in physical pain would similarly cause an increase in observer pain ratings. There was only one significant interaction indicating that the empathy for ostracism condition had a significant increase on pain ratings. Robust sex differences were found, as well as evidence that trait empathy might be correlated with pain ratings after empathizing with others. The results and future directions are discussed.
Exploring Trait-level Variance of Dispositional Need for Approval from Social Networks
(2008) Abrams, Allyson; Le, Benjamin
The present research examines need for approval from social networks in regards to an individual's relationship as a dispositional trait, varying at individual levels. In order to explore trait-level need for approval, associations between need for approval and other dispositional-level traits were examined, including self-esteem, attachment dimensions, personality traits, including extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness, collectivistic and individualistic orientations, and the dimensions of autonomy and sociotropy. Measurement of need for approval involved an original scale construction. Two-hundred eighty participants completed a web-based questionnaire. Significant associations were identified between dispositional-need for approval and individualism, collectivism, attachment avoidance, sociotropy, extraversion (including its facet of warmth), and agreeableness. These results suggest that need for approval from social networks is distinct, but related to individual difference dimensions.
Growth in Narratives of Romantic Rejection: Differences in Self-Esteem and Implicit Theories
(2008) Benson, Jennifer; Lilgendahl, Jennifer
Our study explores the individual, interactive, and additive effects of self-esteem and implicit theory on narrative processing of romantic rejection. In Study 1, participants completed questionnaires including measures of self-esteem and implicit theory, afterwards providing a narrative of romantic rejection. Results indicated that entity theorists showed more blame for their rejecter's behavior and more optimistic future perspectives than incremental theorists, participants higher in self-esteem showed more blame for the rejecter and more optimistic future perspectives than those low in self-esteem, and interaction effects were found for the positivity of self-views in the past, the degree to which self-views had increased, and levels of self-enhancement. In Study 2, participants completed the same questionnaire without the implicit theory measure, were primed with either an entity theorist or incremental theorist mindset, and then completed the same narrative prompt. Those in the entity theorist condition showed more defensiveness and other blame than those in the incremental theorist condition, while those high in self-esteem showed more intense and persistent negative affect, more self-enhancement, more optimistic outlooks, and more positive shifts in self-views than those with low self-esteem. Results from both studies together suggest that the entity theorist mindset is tied to more defensive responses to rejection in terms of attribution and behavioral responses, while self-esteem predicts both emotions and meaning assigned to the event, and both variables together affected the meaning assigned to the event as well as the likelihood of growing from it. Results thus attest to the importance of considering implicit theory and self-esteem both individually and in interaction in predicting the healthiness of narratives of romantic rejection.
I Love You, Don't Hurt Me: The Effect of Relationship Type on Pain Sensitivity After Ostracism
(2009) Banerji, Trina; Sternberg, Wendy
The present study sought to expand the existing literature on the shared pathway of social and physical pain. Because of the shared pathway and necessity of each type of pain, it was predicted that activation of social pain could sensitize physical pain sensitivity. The current study posits that (1) experiencing ostracism should increase physical pain sensitivity, (2) the relationship one has with the source of social rejection can mediate emotional reactions and subsequent physical pain, (3) personality variables can affect reactions to ostracism and subsequent physical pain, and (4) individual perceptions of relationship can affect reactions to ostracism and subsequent physical pain. Ten dyads in romantic partner, friend, and stranger conditions were individually tested for baseline pain sensitivity and asked to fill out relationship measures including commitment and individual attachment style. In a second session, dyads played a ball-tossing game with each other (and two confederates) that was designed to elicit feelings of ostracism. Pain tests were administered immediately after the manipulation. A separate group of control subjects were also tested for pain but experienced inclusion during the ball-tossing game. Results indicated that those in all types of relationships had decreased pain sensitivity after the ostracism manipulation. Males in romantic relationships experienced an increase in pain sensitivity post manipulation. Neither personality nor relationship variables mediated one's reaction to ostracism and subsequent pain sensitivity. Results suggested that ostracism may not elicit emotional distress but emotional numbing that leads to decreased pain sensitivity. Relationship to the source of the ostracism did affect emotional and physical reactions but further research is needed to clarify this relationship.
Intercultural Relationships: Exploring the Differences in the Attraction, Maintenance and Success of Intercultural Romantic Relationships in contrast to the Homogeneous
(2009) Noble, Stephanie A.; Le, Benjamin
Intercultural relationships have been in occurrence from mans' infancy, when two clans unknown to one another first met and began to interact. The questions must have been endless: where did they come from, why do they look different, why do they have such alien customs? Of course, for just as long as there has been a realization of cultural differences, so have there been taboos against their amalgamation. But today we live in an ever-shrinking world. Airplanes can now reach previously unavailable locations to most consumers, and people of all walks of life who have enough money to buy a ticket can get from New Orleans to Timbuktu in a day. With such an increase in traveling ability, so too have businesses and governments latched on to the possibilities of establishing small factions within other countries to mediate actions concerning their economy and welfare, as well as gaining knowledge of the host in order to improve international relations. Technology now makes it possible for those living at opposite ends of the globe to contact one another on a daily basis, and with more computers coming with pre-installed web cameras; we can even chat in virtual face to face scenarios. We no longer live in a world where it is certain our families will not move from one location to another, or to an altogether different country for the sake of their work. While immigrants have in the past provided the most diversity within a country and its peoples, the influx of overseas business workers has created a new realm in cultural identity. What culture do you truly belong to in a world where the borders between country, culture and nationhood are blurring? While it is important to address the issues of cultural identity for oneself, there comes the question of how individuals from such diverse backgrounds will interact in personal and romantic relationships. As an example relationship, one individual is of Irish descent but moved to the U.S. as a child, is still strongly Catholic and knows every traditional Irish ballad ever written. The other is Muslim and has only just moved to the U.S. for work, and is still strongly attached to her own religion and cultural values. The two meet, fall in love, and suddenly are faced with some unique questions that may never occur with a culturally homogenous couples. This clash of cultures can be likened to the emotion of culture shock when having arrived in a completely new country. What foods can we eat together? What movies are appropriate? More importantly, what are the main relationship difficulties and issues that most other couples might not have, such as attributing an error to one's cultural upbringing, or understanding the importance of teaching the children one's religious values but not the others'? This literature review considers these main questions: 1. Why is it important to study Intercultural Relationships? 2. Why do individuals involve themselves in intercultural relationships? Why might they be attracted to them? What biological or evolutionary reasons may there be for intercultural attraction? 3. What are the unique benefits these couples experience from the perspective of the self-expansion model? 4. What might the importance of individual differences in individualism, collectivism, the romantic personality and attachment have on the intercultural relationship? 5. What are some of the family problems within intercultural dyads? How can a successful intercultural marriage be maintained? Understanding the need for more research and psychological solutions for intercultural couples is not only essential in the light of increasing overseas travel and living, but could ultimately aid counselors with intercultural couples to predict their success or failure and prescribe maintenance techniques with the comprehension of the unique obstacles that might occur.
Judgment of relationships: Does mortality salience make a difference?
(2003) Wapner, Joanna; Le, Benjamin
We sought to investigate if there is a relationship between Terror Management Theory (TMT) and Implicit Theories of Relationships (ITR). The participants of the study were 108 undergraduate students with a mean age of 18.85. In order to investigate this relationship we created a survey that included a number of psychological tests (some of which were relevant to the study and some of which were included to build the cover story), a mortality salience or T.V. salience prime, a distraction tasks, and 8 vignettes which violated cultural norms of relationships. The results were insignificant for the interaction effect between TMT and ITR and the main effects of TMT and ITR. Although the results were insignificant, exploration of this relationship should be continued as a means to determine if these theories hold true for third party relationships.
Missing a Loved One and The Role of Need Fulfillment
(2010) Eyerer, Anna; Le, Benjamin
The current study explored the role of need fulfillment in the experience of missing a romantic partner. The sample consisted of 163 participants from ages 17 to 24 in long-distance romantic relationships and currently geographically separated from their partners. Participants took an online survey where they rated their need fulfillment, expectations of need fulfillment, need importance, and social network need fulfillment of 22 needs. The survey also measured participants’ amount of missing, relationship commitment, and attachment dimensions. The results found a positive relationship between need fulfillment and missing and a moderating effect of anxious and avoidant attachment dimensions on this relationship. Additionally, commitment correlated positively with missing which replicates past research. Based on the current findings and considering Interdependence Theory, it was concluded that need fulfillment serves as a predictor of missing because need fulfillment produces dependence on a romantic partner and subsequent commitment.
Need Fulfillment and Missing a Partner in Long Distance Romantic Relationships
(2010) Porter, Jaclyn; Le, Benjamin; Sternberg, Wendy
In this study, the phenomenon of missing a romantic partner in a long-distance relationship (LDR) was investigated. One hundred sixty-three members of LDRs between the ages of 18-24 completed an online survey advertised on a social networking site and the Haverford College message boards. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to determine the association between need fulfillment (NF) and missing a romantic partner as well as moderating variables such as expectations for a romantic partner to fulfill each need, the importance of each need, the fulfillment of each need by a social network member, participant sex, and attachment dimensions. A significant positive correlation was found between NF and missing a partner and significant interactions were found between NF and attachment avoidance, and NF and attachment anxiety in predicting missing a partner. It is suspected that commitment plays an important role in the association between NF and missing. Strengths, limitations, and areas for future research are discussed.
Need Fulfillment and Missing in Long Distance Relationships
(2010) Mezoff, Charlotte; Le, Benjamin
In the context of long distance relationships, we examined the association between individuals' need fulfillment and the extent to which they missed their partner. We predicted that need fulfillment would be negatively associated with missing, such that the less an individual's relationship needs are being met, the more he or she will miss his or her partner. In a correlational analysis, need fulfillment positively predicted missing a partner, contrary to our main hypothesis. Moderated multiple regression analyses revealed no significant interactions between need fulfillment and need expectations, need importance, biological sex, or need fulfillment by social networks.
Out of Sync' : Impression Formation as a Function of Response Latency
(1993) Wachs, Judith M.
The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate whether there exists an optimal duration in conversational interactions which conveys the most positive social evaluations. A series of experiments were performed to examine this hypothesis in four speech acts: honesty, compliance, confidence, and sincerity. A series of dialogue clips were generated which contain a question and a response. The purpose of Experiment One was to determine whether subjects consistently produce different durations for the response latency that correspond to different degrees of a given social attribute. The produced values from the first experiment were used to construct a set of stimuli for the Second Experiment. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if subjects' perceptions match the produced durations of the First Experiment. Subjects listened to the generated dialogue clips and rated them on their degree of a given social dimension. The results of the experiments confirmed that there is an optimal duration within which the most positive social evaluations are made. The optimal duration was a shorter value than was expected. The results also supported the hypothesis that the optimal duration is a function of an overall speaker congruence within conversation. The findings are related to a general nonverbal behavior framework and the importance of temporal characteristics for impression formation.
Personality Differences on Need for Approval for Romantic Relationships from Social Networks
(2008) Fellows, Jefferson; Le, Benjamin
People strive for acceptance from others, and need validation for many of their choices. Romantic relationships are an aspect of people's lives that are influenced by the opinions of friends and family. This study examined the need for approval from social networks pertaining to intimate relationships across the variables of attachment theory of avoidance and anxiety, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, self-esteem, individualism, collectivism, sociotropy, and autonomy. A scale was devised to assess need for approval from their social network. A survey was completed by college students giving ratings for all the variables and the dependent variable of need for approval. Results indicated that collectivism, individualism, sociotropy, avoidance, extraversion, and agreeableness were each significantly associated with need for approval.
Power and Construal Level in Close Relationships
(2012) Emery, Lydia F.; Le, Benjamin
Previous research has established a robust association between high construal level (i.e., abstract thinking) and high power (Smith & Trope, 2006; Smith et al., 2008), yet this process has never been studied in the context of close relationships. In two studies, we examined the influence of power (defined as non-mutual dependence) and construal level (abstract or concrete thinking) on relationship investments, perception of alternatives, and willingness to sacrifice. In Study l, a cross-sectional design, we found that both low power and high construal level predict greater investments, fewer alternatives, and more willingness to sacrifice. We attempted to manipulate power and construal level experimentally in Study 2, but our manipulation was unsuccessful. These data show preliminary evidence that construal level assumes a markedly different function in close relationships: individuals with a high construal level behaved like those with low power, suggesting the importance of the relational context in altering psychological processes.
Response Latency as a Cue to Deception in Interpersonal Relationships
(2011) Henderson, Amalya; Boltz, Marilyn
The current study investigated the effects of interpersonal relationship type and gender on perceptions of deception while manipulating response latency. Sixty participants listened to a conversation between a male and female speaker. In the conversation, the male and female speakers posed a number of questions to which the other speaker responded with a short statement representing one of two potential lie types: self- or other-oriented lies. Subjects were led to believe that the speakers had one of three relationship types: close, acquaintance, or stranger. In each question/response pair the response latency was manipulated to be short, on-time, or long. The results showed three findings of note. First, the female speaker was perceived to tell more other lies to benefit another person while the male speaker was perceived to tell more self lies to benefit himself. Secondly, there was also a main effect of latency such that higher frequencies of lies were associated with the long latency than either the short or on-time latencies. Lastly, in close relationships, participants gave more leniency to speakers after short and on-time latencies, but were much harsher with judgments after long latencies. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications towards acknowledging the role of psycho-social factors in deception.
She sounds fishy to me: The effects of social cues and response latency on deception perception
(2011) Wu, Sally; Boltz, Marilyn
The purpose of the present research was to examine the effects of certain social factors and nonverbal behaviors on the perception of deception. This study extends previous literature by examining the effects of response latency, speaker gender, type of lie, and perceived relationship between two conversational partners on perceivers' judgments of truths versus lies. Participants listened to a naturalistic conversation between a male and female speaker, portrayed as to vary in relationship distance, that contained responses to questions that differed in the potential type of lie and response latency. Results revealed 1) gender differences in the frequency and type of lie told, 2) perceivers' attention to response latency, and 3) the impact of expectations on the interpretation of response latency for different relationship types.

Browsing by Subject "Interpersonal relations -- Psychological aspects"

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