Camilla S. Øverup

Removing the Ego: Need Fulfillment, Self-Image Goals, and Self-Presentation

Self-determination theory suggests that fulfillment of basic psychological needs creates a sense of self-worth that is not contingent upon maintaining a particular self-image. Lower ego-involvement is theorized, in turn, to lead to more authentic interactions with others. The present research tests this assertion across two types of close relationships. In Study 1, participants reported how much a close friendship fulfills their basic psychological needs, their levels of self-image goals, and the extent to which they engage in self-presentation with their friend. In Study 2, participants answered the same questions about a romantic partner. Results suggest that need fulfillment is associated with less desire to maintain a specific self-image, and that this predicts lower levels of self-presentation.

The price of distrust: trust, anxious attachment, jealousy, and partner abuse

Trust is essential to the development of healthy, secure, and satisfying relationships (Simpson, 2007a). Attachment styles provide a theoretical framework for understanding how individuals respond to partner behaviors that either confirm or violate trust (Hazan & Shaver, 1994). The current research aimed to identify how trust and attachment anxiety might interact to predict different types of jealousy and physical and psychological abuse. We expected that when experiencing lower levels of trust, anxiously attached individuals would report higher levels of both cognitive and behavioral jealousy as well as partner abuse perpetration. Participants in committed romantic relationships (N = 261) completed measures of trust, attachment anxiety and avoidance, jealousy, and physical and psychological partner abuse in a cross-sectional study. Moderation results largely supported the hypotheses: Attachment anxiety moderated the association between trust and jealousy, such that anxious individuals experienced much higher levels of cognitive and behavioral jealousy when reporting lower levels of trust. Moreover, attachment anxiety moderated the association between trust and nonphysical violence. These results suggest that upon experiencing distrust in one’s partner, anxiously attached individuals are more likely to become jealous, snoop through a partner’s belongings, and become psychologically abusive. The present research illustrates that particularly for anxiously attached individuals, distrust has cascading effects on relationship cognitions and behavior, and this should be a key area of discussion during therapy.

Drowning the pain: Intimate partner violence and drinking to cope prospectively predict problem drinking☆

INTRODUCTION The present study examined the longitudinal association among drinking problems, drinking to cope, and degree of intimate partner violence (IPV). Two competing models were tested; the first model posited that drinking to cope leads to greater drinking problems and this subsequently leads to more violence in the relationship (an intoxication-violence model). The second model speculated that violence in the relationship leads to drinking to cope, which in turn leads to greater drinking problems (a self-medication model). METHODS Eight hundred and eighteen undergraduate students at a large north-western university participated in the study over a two year period, completing assessments of IPV, alcohol related problems and drinking to cope at five time points over a two year period as part of a larger social norms intervention study. RESULTS Analyses examined two competing models; analyses indicated that there was support for the self-mediation model, whereby people who have experienced violence have more drinking problems later, and this association is temporally mediated by drinking to cope. DISCUSSION The current results are discussed in light of past research on the self-medication model.

Understanding the context of romantic partner relational victimization: links between relationship satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and alcohol-related problems

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine links across romantic partner relational victimization, depressive symptoms, and drinking problems during young adulthood. We were interested in evaluating depression as a mediator of the association between relational victimization by one’s romantic partner, drinking problems, and the conditional indirect effects of relationship satisfaction. Method: Study participants included 269 individuals aged 18 to 26 years (68% female, Mage = 22.78 years, SD = 4.70). They completed self-report measures online. Results: Mediation results indicated that depression significantly mediated the association between relational victimization and alcohol-related problems. Furthermore, tests of conditional indirect effects suggest that depression mediated the association between romantic partner relational victimization and alcohol-related problems among those who were lower in relationship satisfaction, but not among those who were higher in relationship satisfaction. Conclusions: Findings are discussed with attention to the developmental significance of romantic relationships during the transition to young adulthood. Specifically, the current findings add to the existing literature, which has suggested that both relationship aggression and depression are associated with problematic drinking.

Self-presentation as a function of perceived closeness and trust with romantic partners, friends, and acquaintances

ABSTRACT Self-presentation represents behaviors used in establishing an identity with others; such behaviors may differ across various interpersonal relationships. The current article presents two studies examining differences in self-presentation to acquaintances, friends, and romantic partners among college students in relationships. Study 1 was an experiment, and Study 2 utilized a within-subject design. Results showed that individuals engaged in more self-presentation in more established types of relationships. Additionally, both closeness and trust served as moderators, such that those lower in closeness/trust reported more self-presentation in more established types of relationships than in less established types of relationships. At higher levels of closeness/trust, the results were somewhat inconsistent, with Study 1 finding no differences between relationship types and Study 2 finding more self-presentation to romantic partners than to friends and acquaintances. These results are among the first to suggest that individuals engage in differing levels of self-presentation, depending on the type of relationship and the extent to which they feel close to and trust the person.

I know I have to earn your love: how the family environment shapes feelings of worthiness of love

Parental conditional regard is a parenting practice which may lead to negative outcomes for the child. Yet, no research has examined whether feelings of love worthiness may be dependent upon conditional parental regard. Furthermore, certain conditions within the family environment may exacerbate this effect. Across two studies, undergraduate students were asked to report on perceptions of parental conditional regard, aspects of the family life growing up and how often they felt worthy of love (WOL). In Study 1, 91 individuals were asked to respond to open-ended questions about their feelings of parental conditional regard, as well as complete Likert-type questions about their family environment and feelings of love worthiness. In Study 2, 211 individuals completed Likert-type scales assessing their perceptions of parental conditional regard, family environment and feelings of love worthiness. Overall, perceptions of parental conditional regard were associated with feeling WOL less often, and this association was due to the lack of a positive family environment and the presence of negative conditions. These results highlight the importance of parenting practices, specifically a positive family environment, for the development of schemas of the self as WOL from others.

Presenting Different Selves to Different People: Self-Presentation as a Function of Relationship Type and Contingent Self-Esteem

ABSTRACT Past work has established a connection between self-esteem and self-presentation; however, research has not explored how self-esteem that is contingent on ones relationship may influence self-presentational tactics in that relationship. Across two studies, undergraduate students reported on the extent to which their self-esteem depended on their friendship and romantic relationship, as well as the extent to which they engaged in self-presentation behaviors in those relationships. The results suggest that relationship-specific contingent self-esteem predicts relationship-specific self-presentation; however, friendship-contingent self-esteem predicted self-presentation in both friendships and romantic relationships. These results suggest that individuals are keenly and differentially attuned to qualitatively different relationships, and when perceiving potential problems, they attempt to remedy those through their self-presentations. Furthermore, results indicate the possibility that self-esteem tied to a particular relationship may not be as important as self-esteem based more generally on ones relationships.

Lover and learner: exploring relational schema change following relationship dissolution

ABSTRACT Romantic relationships are known to be very influential, but less is known about how these relationships, and particularly the breakup of these relationships, may affect individuals’ relational schemas, or their expectations for relationships. Undergraduate students reported on how their views of themselves, romantic partners, and relationships changed after breaking up with a past partner. Results suggest that relational schemas change following relationship dissolution and that there are both positive and negative aspects to this change. There was also some evidence that aspects of the past relationship predicted change and the valence of change, and that change and the valence of change were related to aspects of current relationship quality. These results are an important first step in understanding how past romantic relationships influence people’s expectations about relationships and, by extension, their health and wellbeing.