Creativity and romantic passion

Psychological resilience-related functional connectomes predict creative personality

Both psychological resilience and creativity are complex concepts that have positive effects on individual adaptation. Previous studies have shown overlaps between the key brain regions or brain functional networks related to psychological resilience and creativity. However, no direct experimental evidence has been provided to support the assumption that psychological resilience and creativity share a common brain basis. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between psychological resilience and creativity using neural imaging method with a machine learning approach. At the behavioral level, we found that psychological resilience was positively related to creative personality. Predictive analysis based on static functional connectivity (FC) and dynamic FC demonstrated that FCs related to psychological resilience could effectively predict an individual's creative personality score. Both the static FC and dynamic FC were mainly located in the default mode network. These results prove that psychological resilience and creativity share a common brain functional basis. These findings also provide insights into the possibility of promoting individual positive adaptation from negative events or situations in a creative way.

Using Robots at Work during the COVID‐19 Crisis Evokes Passion Decay: Evidence from Field and Experimental Studies

The growing trend of introducing robots into employees' work lives has become increasingly salient during the global COVID‐19 pandemic. In light of this pandemic, it is likely that organisational decision‐makers are seeing value in coupling employees with robots for both efficiency‐ and health‐related reasons. An unintended consequence of this coupling, however, may be an increased level of work routinisation and standardisation. We draw primarily from the model of passion decay from the relationship and clinical psychology literature to develop theory and test a model arguing that passion decays as employees increasingly interact with robots for their work activities. We demonstrate that this passion decay leads to an increase of withdrawal behaviour from both the domains of work and family. Drawing further from the model of passion decay, we reveal that employees higher in openness to experience are less likely to suffer from passion decay upon more frequent interactions with robots in the course of work. Across a multi‐source, multi‐wave field study conducted in Hong Kong (Study 1) and a simulation‐based experiment conducted in the United States (Study 2), our hypotheses received support. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

When the loss of positives feels negative: Exploring the loss of positive experiences in committed couples

Despite romantic relationships being characterized by high positives (e.g., enjoyable activities, positive feelings) early in commitment, many couples experience a loss of positives over time. However, interventions are typically not as effective at enhancing positives as they are at reducing negatives (e.g., hostile conflict). Thus, it is important to understand why positives decrease and how to use interventions to enhance positives optimally. In this article, we present how the field has evolved to (a) heighten focus on positives independent of negatives, (b) identify trajectories of positives over time, and (c) clarify major factors which predict loss of positives. From a cognitive-behavioral couple therapy perspective, we offer therapeutic strategies that may hold promise for enhancing positives in relationships.

Exploring the Psychological Processes That Underlie Interpersonal Forgiveness: Replication and Extension of the Model of Motivated Interpersonal Forgiveness

When, why, and how does interpersonal forgiveness occur? These questions guided recent research that compared the relative abilities of empathy versus motivated reasoning models to account for the influence of relationship closeness on interpersonal forgiveness. Consistent support was provided for the Model of Motivated Interpersonal Forgiveness. This model hypothesizes that, following relationship transgressions, relationship closeness leads to a desire to maintain a relationship. Desire to maintain a relationship leads to motivated reasoning. And motivated reasoning fosters interpersonal forgiveness. The goal of the present research was to examine two concerns that emerged from the initial support for the Model of Motivated Interpersonal Forgiveness. First, were the measures of motivated reasoning and interpersonal forgiveness conflated, thus reducing the potential for empathy to account for interpersonal forgiveness? Second, did the analytic estimation used reduce the power to detect the mediational role of empathy? The present research examined these questions. When motivated reasoning was measured by thought listings (in addition to the original questionnaire items) and when the analytic estimation provided greater power, the Model of Motivated Interpersonal Forgiveness was replicated.

Who are "We"? Couple Identity Clarity and Romantic Relationship Commitment

This research introduces the construct of couple identity clarity-the extent to which an individual, as one of two partners in a romantic relationship, believes that the two of them know who they are as a couple. Cross-sectional (Studies 1-2), experimental (Study 3), and longitudinal (Study 4) studies supported the hypothesis that couple identity clarity is associated with higher commitment. Moreover, higher couple identity clarity, although related to actual agreement between partners on their identity as a couple, predicted commitment above and beyond agreement (Study 2)-as well as predicted reduced likelihood of relationship dissolution over a 9-month period (Study 4). Exploratory analyses revealed that successful conflict resolution may enhance couple identity clarity, in turn predicting commitment (Study 4). These studies highlight the importance of people's understanding of who they are as a couple and how this understanding shapes relationship persistence.