The impact of non-harmonious goals on partner support and taking on opportunities

Romantic partners often support each other to progress toward goals. However, at times partners’ goals are not in harmony and conflict with partner or relationship needs, leading to negative consequences for couple members. The present study examined whether non-harmonious opportunities were associated with support provider’s and recipient’s behavior, perceived partner support, and goal outcomes. We further examined whether these effects were moderated by attachment styles. Findings from two experimental (n1= 296, n2= 117) and one dyadic daily diary (n3= 267) showed how having non-harmonious goals lead to problematic goal pursuit. Partners are less likely to behave positively toward the support provider, provide partner support, view their partners as supportive, and report less commitment to partners, and make less goal progress when goal non-harmony is present. Importantly, we did not find moderation effects of attachment styles for these processes. The findings highlight the importance of managing goal non-harmony in couples.

Successful negotiation of goal conflict between romantic partners predicts better goal outcomes during COVID-19: A mixed methods study

When romantic partners' personal goals conflict, this can negatively affect personal goal outcomes, such as progress. In a concurrent mixed methods study, we investigated whether goal conflict and negation of goal conflict were associated with goal outcomes (progress, confidence, motivation) and what strategies partners used during the COVID-19 pandemic to negotiate goal conflict. Survey participants (n = 200) completed a daily diary for a week and weekly longitudinal reports for a month and interview participants (n = 48) attended a semi-structured interview. Results showed that higher goal conflict was associated with lower goal outcomes, and successful negotiation of goal conflict was associated with better goal outcomes. Qualitative analyses identified three goal conflict negotiation strategies (compromise, integration, concession). Conversations focused on both practical and emotional needs and included respectful communication and space from conflict (timeout or avoidance). The mixed methods results suggest that goal conflict was low during the pandemic and participants were often able to negotiate goal conflict resulting in better goal outcomes.

Attachment styles, negotiation of goal conflict, and perceived partner support during COVID-19

Due to the pandemic, people have been stuck indoors with their partners for months. Instead of being able to rely on multiple sources of support, many couples have to rely on each other more. We investigated whether goal conflict, successful negotiation of the conflict, and individual differences in attachment styles were associated with perceived partner support to understand factors that may enable or hinder goal pursuit during the pandemic. Participants (n = 200) completed a daily diary for a week and weekly longitudinal reports for five weeks. Results showed that higher goal conflict predicted perception of less relational catalyst (RC) support and more anti-RC support from partner, whereas more successful negotiation of goal conflict predicted higher RC support and lower anti-RC support. Attachment avoidance was directly associated with less support whereas attachment anxiety moderated the relationship between goal conflict and support. Implications for partner support during the pandemic are discussed.

The Roles of Communal Motivation in Daily Prosocial Behaviors: A Dyadic Experience-Sampling Study

Close relationship partners are communally motivated to engage in prosocial behaviors that can promote each other’s well-being. It remains largely unexplored how both members’ communal motivations jointly shape the daily enactment of prosocial behaviors. This dyadic experience-sampling study aimed to partially fill this gap by studying whether both members’ communal motivations predict (a) the base rate of the actor’s prosocial behaviors, (b) the actor’s reciprocity to the partner’s earlier prosocial behaviors, and (c) the consistency of the actor’s enactment of prosocial behaviors, within a day. Actor–partner interdependence analyses showed that the base rate of prosocial behaviors was positively associated with both members’ communal motivations. Consistency was only associated with the actor’s communal motivation, while reciprocity was not related to either member’s communal motivation. We also explored participants’ rationale for the enacted behaviors. Implications regarding the roles of communal motivation in daily relational functions were discussed.

"You've Changed": Low Self-Concept Clarity Predicts Lack of Support for Partner Change

People often pursue self-change, and having a romantic partner who supports these changes increases relationship satisfaction. However, most existing research focuses only on the experience of the person who is changing. What predicts whether people support their partner's change? People with low self-concept clarity resist self-change, so we hypothesized that they would be unsupportive of their partner's changes. People with low self-concept clarity did not support their partner's change (Study 1a), because they thought they would have to change, too (Study 1b). Low self-concept clarity predicted failing to support a partner's change, but not vice versa (Studies 2 and 3), and only for larger changes (Study 3). Not supporting a partner's change predicted decreases in relationship quality for both members of the couple (Studies 2 and 3). This research underscores the role of partners in self-change, suggesting that failing to support a partner's change may stem from self-concept confusion.

The Interdependence of Personality and Satisfaction in Couples

Abstract. Personality has been found to play an important role in predicting satisfaction in couples. This review presents dyadic research on the association between Big Five traits and both life and relationship satisfaction in couples focusing on self-reported personality, partner-perceived personality (how the partner rates one’s own personality), and personality similarity. Furthermore, special attention is given to possible gender effects. The findings indicate the importance of self-reported as well as partner-perceived reported personality for the satisfaction of both partners. Specifically, the majority of studies found intrapersonal and interpersonal effects for neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness on life or relationship satisfaction. For the partner-perceived personality, intrapersonal and interpersonal effects were present for all Big Five traits. Partners’ similarity in personality traits seems not to be related with their satisfaction when controlling for partners’ personality.