Someone to Love
The social-safety system: Fortifying relationships in the face of the unforeseeable
Sandra Murray et al.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
A model of the social-safety system is proposed to explain how people sustain a sense of safety in the relational world when they are not able to foresee the behavior of others. In this model, people can escape the acute anxiety posed by agents in their personal relational world behaving unexpectedly (e.g., spouse, child) by defensively imposing well-intentioned motivations on the agents controlling their sociopolitical relational world (e.g., President, Congress). Conversely, people can escape the acute anxiety posed by sociopolitical agents behaving unexpectedly by defensively imposing well-intentioned motivations on the agents controlling their personal relational world. Two daily diary studies, a longitudinal study of the 2018 midterm election, and a 3-year longitudinal study of newlyweds supported the hypotheses. On a daily basis, people who were less certain they could trust their romantic partner defended against acutely unforeseeable behavior in one relational world by affirming faith in the well-intentioned motivations of agents in the alternate world. Moreover, when people were more in the personal daily habit of finding safety in the alternate relational world in the face of the unexpected, those who were initially uncertain they could trust their romantic partner later evidenced greater comfort depending on their personal relationship partners.
Our adventures make me feel secure: Novel activities boost relationship satisfaction through felt security
Kassandra Cortes et al.
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Past research has established the relational benefits of engaging in novel tasks with a romantic partner. However, little empirical evidence exists for the mechanisms responsible. The current research examined growth experiences — the proposed and tested mechanism in past work — as well as security experiences, a previously unexplored mechanism. Using a recall paradigm, Study 1 found that people reported high feelings of security (e.g., reliance, trust), in addition to growth (e.g., fun, excitement), when pursuing novel activities with a romantic partner. In Study 2, romantic couples engaged in a novel or control task. We assessed feelings of growth and security, and examined couples' post-task relationship satisfaction. Results revealed that while growth feelings mediated the link between task condition and relationship satisfaction, consistent with past work, so too did feelings of security. When growth and security were included as simultaneous mediators in the model, feelings of security emerged as a stronger mediator.
Are Playboy (and girl) Norms Behind the Relationship Problems Associated with Pornography Viewing in Men and Women?
Nicholas Borgogna et al.
Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, May 2020, Pages 491-507
Abstract:
Research has indicated that pornography viewing is related to romantic relationship problems. However, the correlations across past studies have been small. We tested a model in which playboy norm conformity (i.e. desires to have frequent sex with multiple partners) functions as a confound between pornography viewing constructs on three romantic relationship wellbeing indicators: Relationship satisfaction, relationship commitment, and infidelity proclivity. Results from men (n = 286) and women (n = 717) indicated that the significant inverse correlations between relationship satisfaction and relationship commitment with pornography viewing constructs becomes non-significant when playboy norm conformity is accounted. Further, the positive relationship between pornography viewing and infidelity proclivity also becomes non-significant in women (no initial connection between pornography viewing and infidelity proclivity was found in men). Though conformity to playboy norms was more strongly related to all romantic relationship wellbeing indicators across genders, pornography viewing frequency was still significantly inversely correlated with relationship satisfaction for women; though the effect size was small. Moderation analyses suggested that pornography viewing frequency was more strongly inversely correlated with relationship satisfaction for women than men. Cumulatively, our results suggest conformity to playboy norms is a significant confounding variable between pornography viewing and romantic relationship wellbeing.
No pain, no gain: Perceived partner mate value mediates the desire-inducing effect of being hard to get during online and face-to-face encounters
Gurit Birnbaum, Kobi Zholtack & Harry Reis
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, forthcoming
Abstract:
Playing hard to get is a common strategy used to attract mates. Past research has been unclear about whether and why this strategy facilitates mate pursuit. In three studies, we examined whether perceiving potential partners as hard to get instigated sexual desire and whether perceived partner mate value explained this effect. In doing so, we focused on tactics that give the impression that potential partners are hard to get and may genuinely signal their mate value (being selective in choosing mates, efforts invested in their pursuit). In all studies, participants interacted with an opposite-sex confederate and rated their perceptions of the confederate. In Study 1, participants interacted with confederates whose profile indicated that they were either hard to get or easy to attract. In Study 2, participants exerted (or not) real efforts to attract the confederate. In Study 3, interactions unfolded spontaneously and were coded for efforts made to see the confederate again. Results indicated that the perception of whether a confederate was hard to get was associated with their mate value, which, in turn, predicted greater desire and efforts to see the confederate again, suggesting that being hard to get is an effective strategy that heightens perceptions of partners’ mate value.
Do more attractive women show stronger preferences for male facial masculinity?
Ciaran Docherty et al.
Evolution and Human Behavior, July 2020, Pages 312-317
Abstract:
Researchers have suggested that more attractive women will show stronger preferences for masculine men because such women are better placed to offset the potential costs of choosing a masculine mate. However, evidence for correlations between measures of women's own attractiveness and preferences for masculine men is mixed. Moreover, the samples used to test this hypothesis are typically relatively small. Consequently, we conducted two large-scale studies that investigated possible associations between women's preferences for facial masculinity and their own attractiveness as assessed from third-party ratings of their facial attractiveness (Study 1, N = 454, laboratory study) and self-rated attractiveness (Study 2, N = 8972, online study). Own attractiveness was positively correlated with preferences for masculine men in Study 2 (self-rated attractiveness), but not Study 1 (third-party ratings of facial attractiveness). This pattern of results is consistent with the proposal that women's beliefs about their own attractiveness, rather than their physical condition per se, underpins attractiveness-contingent masculinity preferences.