Brittany K. Jakubiak

Affectionate Touch to Promote Relational, Psychological, and Physical Well-Being in Adulthood A Theoretical Model and Review of the Research

Throughout the life span, individuals engage in affectionate touch with close others. Touch receipt promotes well-being in infancy, but the impacts of touch in adult close relationships have been largely unexplored. In this article, we propose that affectionate touch receipt promotes relational, psychological, and physical well-being in adulthood, and we present a theoretical mechanistic model to explain why affectionate touch may promote these outcomes. The model includes pathways through which touch could affect well-being by reducing stress and by promoting well-being independent of stress. Specifically, two immediate outcomes of affectionate touch receipt—relational-cognitive changes and neurobiological changes—are described as important mechanisms underlying the effects of affectionate touch on well-being. We also review and evaluate the existing research linking affectionate touch to well-being in adulthood and propose an agenda to advance research in this area. This theoretical perspective provides a foundation for future work on touch in adult close relationships.

A Sense of Security Touch Promotes State Attachment Security

Adults can be made to experience state attachment security (e.g., feel calm, cared for, and trusting) when they recall experiences, in which others were accepting and responsive. In two experiments, we tested whether receiving affectionate touch in the context of a close relationship naturally promotes state attachment security. As hypothesized, participants who imagined receiving touch had greater accessibility of secure words on a memory task (Experiment 1) and participants who physically received touch from their romantic partners self-reported greater state security (Experiment 2) than participants who did not receive touch. Neither the relationship context (romantic partner or close friend) nor the attribution for the touch moderated touch’s effect on state security. However, consistent with predictions, touch promoted security more for individuals low in avoidant attachment than highly avoidant individuals. By promoting state security, touch may facilitate positive relational behaviors and cognitions to improve and protect adult relationships.

Daily goal progress is facilitated by spousal support and promotes psychological, physical, and relational well-being throughout adulthood.

In 2 daily diary studies, we tested the consequences and precursors of daily goal progress throughout the adult life span. Attachment theory posits that exploration-including the pursuit of autonomous goals-promotes well-being across the life span and is facilitated by support from close others. For both young-adult newlyweds (Study 1) and married couples in late adulthood (Study 2), daily independent goal progress predicted same-day and next-day improvements in psychological, physical, and relational well-being. Specifically, when participants made more progress on their goals than usual on one day, they reported increases in positive affect, sleep quality, and relationship quality, and decreased physical symptoms, the following day (as well as concurrently). Additionally, spousal support (i.e., availability, encouragement, and noninterference) enabled same-day and next-day goal progress. Mediational analyses showed indirect links between spousal support and well-being through goal progress. Some effects were moderated by attachment orientation in the newlywed sample; individuals with greater insecure attachment benefited most from goal progress, and spousal support enabled goal progress most strongly for individuals with less anxious attachment. Overall, these results support and extend attachment theoretical propositions regarding the importance of the exploration system across the adult life span. They contribute to existing literature by demonstrating wide-ranging consequences of successful exploration for well-being and by providing evidence for the importance of both exploration and support for exploration into late adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record

Changing Me to Keep You: State Jealousy Promotes Perceiving Similarity Between the Self and a Romantic Rival

Individuals sometimes alter their self-views to be more similar to others—traditionally romantic partners—because they are motivated to do so. A common motivating force is the desire to affiliate with a partner. The current research examined whether a different motivation—romantic jealousy—might promote individuals to alter their self-views to be more similar to a romantic rival, rather than a partner. Romantic jealousy occurs when individuals perceive a rival as a threat to their relationship and motivates individuals to defend their relationship. We proposed that one novel way that individuals might defend their relationship is by seeing themselves as more similar to a perceived romantic rival. We predicted individuals would alter their self-views to be more similar to a rival that they believed their partner found attractive. Importantly, we predicted that state romantic jealousy would motivate these self-alterations. Three studies confirmed these hypotheses.

Touch reduces romantic jealousy in the anxiously attached

Feelings of jealousy are usually detrimental to relationships, often resulting in negative outcomes ranging from conflict to violence and relationship dissolution. Anxiously attached individuals are especially prone to jealousy in their relationships and are therefore especially likely to experience negative outcomes of jealousy. In this research, we examined the effectiveness of both touch and a traditional security prime as a potential means of reducing feelings of jealousy for individuals who are high in anxious attachment. Individuals in romantic relationships were induced to feel jealous, during which time they were randomly assigned to receive affectionate touch from their partners, a traditional nontouch security prime, or no intervention (control). Results revealed that anxious attachment was associated with high levels of jealousy, and touch was an effective buffer against jealous feelings for individuals high in anxious attachment. The traditional security prime did not buffer jealous feelings. Implications of results for potential relationship interventions are discussed.

Communal Coping and Adjustment to Chronic Illness: Theory Update and Evidence:

We present a theory of communal coping that describes an optimal pathway to patient adjustment among couples in which one person faces a chronic illness. Communal coping consists of a shared illness appraisal (i.e., person perceives illness as a joint rather than individual problem) and collaboration with a partner to manage the illness. We present a model of the communal coping process that links patient and partner shared illness appraisals to collaboration and a set of supportive interactions that might be reframed as collaboration in the presence of shared illness appraisals. We then outline a model that identifies potential antecedents of communal coping and mechanisms that link communal coping to patient illness adjustment (i.e., enhanced psychological well-being, improved health behaviors, better physical health) and partner psychological well-being. We review the empirical evidence for this model and conclude by identifying several moderator variables, noting potential limitations, and outlining future research directions.

Implicit and explicit communal coping in couples with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes

When an individual in a close relationship is diagnosed with a chronic illness, coping can be the responsibility of the patient or couple members can cope communally. Communal coping reflects a shared appraisal of a stressor (our problem instead of my problem) and collaborative efforts to address the stressor. The current study examined whether patients’ and partners’ communal coping levels were associated with relational and health functioning among 70 couples in which one member was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. We assessed explicit communal coping with self-reported “inclusion of the other in the self” in regard to diabetes management and implicit communal coping with first-person plural pronoun usage during a diabetes discussion. We also assessed patient reports of support received from partners, patient and partner psychological distress, and patient self-care behavior. Results showed that patient explicit communal coping was related to better patient relationship quality and greater support receipt from partners. Patient and partner explicit communal coping also were related to reduced partner distress but not patient distress. Instead, partner implicit communal coping was related to reduced patient distress. Most noteworthy, partner implicit communal coping was related to better patient self-care behavior. These results suggest that communal coping may be beneficial for both relationships and health but that the effects of explicit measures differ from those of implicit measures. Patients might benefit especially from partner communal coping efforts that are less obvious.

Sustainable Decisions Signal Sustainable Relationships: How Purchasing Decisions Affect Perceptions and Romantic Attraction

ABSTRACT In the pursuit of love, individuals strategically use luxury products to signal status and other attractive attributes. Might eco-friendly products also signal mate-relevant information? The current research examined inferences from eco-friendly purchases and how they predict perceived suitability for short- and long-term romantic relationships. Participants read descriptions of a stranger’s eco-friendly or luxury purchase decisions, reported their perceptions of the purchaser, and indicated their potential romantic interest in the purchaser. The influence of the relative price of the chosen product was also investigated. Compared to luxury purchasers, eco-friendly purchasers were ascribed greater warmth, competence, and good partner traits, but less physical appeal, and they were preferred for long-term but not short-term relationships. The social costs and benefits of “going green” are discussed in light of their implications for environmental sustainability efforts.

Strategically Funny: Romantic Motives Affect Humor Style in Relationship Initiation

Not all humor is the same, yet little is known about the appeal of specific humor styles in romantic initiation. The current experimental study addresses this gap by investigating how romantic motives (short-term or long-term) affect individuals’ anticipated use of, and response to, positive humor and negative humor. Heterosexual participants (n = 224) imagined the pursuit of either a desired short-term or long-term relationship, indicated the extent to which they would produce positive and negative humor, and reported how their own interest would change in response to the imaginary target’s use of positive or negative humor. Results revealed that individuals are strategic in their humor production as a function of relational motives. Individuals produced positive humor in both contexts but limited their use of negative humor when pursuing a long-term relationship. The target’s positive humor increased individuals’ attraction, especially women’s, and although negative humor boosted attraction, it did not boost attraction more for short-term than long-term relationships. Findings extend a trait-indicator model of humor and their implications are discussed in light of other theoretical perspectives.

Predicting the Pursuit and Support of Challenging Life Opportunities

Deciding to embrace challenging opportunities may present one life context through which individuals may thrive, and these decisions may be influenced by one’s significant relationships. Married couples were unobtrusively videotaped as one couple-member was presented with a challenging opportunity and decided whether to accept it. We assessed interpersonal predictors of the decision to accept or forgo the opportunity, predictors of the spouse’s support during decision-making, and follow-up thriving outcomes 6 months later. Results indicated that specific support behaviors enacted by the spouse—relational catalyst (RC) support provision—encouraged decision-makers to accept the challenge and that this decision predicted long-term thriving outcomes for the decision-maker. Results also indicated that the spouse’s support behavior was influenced by both chronic and experimentally manipulated motivations for providing support, and these motives provide pathways by which relationship satisfaction and attachment security predict the provision of RC support. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.