Denise Haunani Solomon

Measuring the sources and content of relational uncertainty

Uncertainty reduction theory suggests that the self, the partner, and the relationship constitute three sources of uncertainty within interpersonal relationships; however, existing operationaliza‐tions of uncertainty focus predominately on partner issues. More recent extensions of the uncertainty construct to developed relationships call for a measure that both captures the range of uncertainty as originally conceptualized and attends to the uncertainty issues relevant in ongoing associations. We conducted a study of individuals in dating relationships to develop a measure that assesses the sources and content of relational uncertainty. Results identified three content issues for uncertainty focused on either the self or the partner: desire for the relationship, evaluation of the relationship, and goals for the relationship. Uncertainty about the relationship encompassed four content issues: behavioral norms for the relationship, mutuality of feelings between the partners, current definition of the relati...

A model of relational turbulence: The role of intimacy, relational uncertainty, and interference from partners in appraisals of irritations

The development of romantic relationships is a complex process by which previously autonomous individuals come to perceive themselves as a social unit. We propose that the transition from casual dating to serious involvement coincides with relational turbulence in courtship, and we identify relational uncertainty and interference from partners as mechanisms that may explain why this turmoil occurs. We test our model by examining people’s appraisals of irritating circumstances as a marker of relational turbulence. We conducted a cross-sectional study in which individuals evaluated the degree of severity and relationship threat of potential irritations that had occurred recently in their dating relationship. Although the effect size was small, results consistent with our predictions indicated that negative appraisals were curvilinearly associated with intimacy. Also as anticipated, we documented positive associations between negative appraisals and both relational uncertainty and interference from partners. Contrary to our expectations, however, neither relational uncertainty nor interference from partners mediated the curvilinear trajectory between negative appraisals and intimacy. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding relational turbulence in dating relationships.

Relationship Uncertainty, Partner Interference, and Intimacy within Dating Relationships

The transition from casual to serious involvement appears to constitute a unique period of relating within courtships. We suggest that the moderate levels of intimacy characterizing this phase correspond with heightened uncertainty about the relationship and greater interference from partners in every-day activities. In a test of these predictions, individuals in dating relationships (N= 341) completed self-report measures of intimacy, relationship uncertainty, partners influence in the respondents everyday activities, and partners interference in those activities. Contrary to our expectations, we observed a negative linear association between intimacy and relationship uncertainty. Although the effect size was small, results indicated support for a curvilinear association between the experience of interference from partners and intimacy; as predicted, interference was greatest at moderate levels of intimacy. In addition, results revealed an ordinal interaction between intimacy and a partners influence in everyday activities, such that the partners influence was more positively associated with interference at low levels of intimacy than at high levels of intimacy. The discussion highlights the implications of these findings for conceptualizing the development of romantic relationships.

Structuring the concept of relational communication

Since the distinction was first drawn between content and relational aspects of communication, the notion of relational communication has evolved from a unitary focus on dominance to a multi‐faceted concept that embraces as many as 12 subcomponents. With the aim of devising a theoretical structure to these many concepts, we advanced three proposals. First, we distinguished intensifier variables, such as involvement, and substantive variables, such as dominance and affiliation. Second, we argued that relational judgments are hierarchically organized such that dominance and affiliation subsume the more specific facets of relational communication identified in prior research. Third, we suggested that dominance and affiliation constitute competing frames for interpreting involvement cues during social interaction. A study was conducted in which participants (N= 805) responded to the Burgoon and Hale (1987) Relational Message Scale. First‐order factor analysis was largely successful in reconfirming the structu...

A Relational Turbulence Model of Communication About Irritations in Romantic Relationships

The authors examined the impact of intimacy, relational uncertainty, and a partner’s interference on the directness of communication about relational irritations. The authors hypothesized that directness has (a) a positive association with the perceived negativity of irritations, intimacy, and self uncertainty; (b) a negative association with relationship uncertainty; (c) a negative association with partner uncertainty that is mediated by relationship uncertainty; and (d) a positive association with a partner’s interference that is mediated by the perceived negativity of irritations. The authors conducted a longitudinal Web-based survey in which individuals in romantic associations reported on qualities of their relationships once per week for 6 weeks. A structural equation model of data from the first week was consistent with the authors’ hypotheses. Longitudinal analyses of the full data set using hierarchical linear modeling provided mixed support for the authors’ predictions. The article discusses the implications of the findings for understanding both communicative directness and turbulence within developing dating relationships.

Intimacy and the magnitude and experience of episodic relational uncertainty within romantic relationships

This paper seeks to clarify the association between the intimacy and the magnitude of relational uncertainty generated by specific events within romantic relationships. More specifically, we suggest that episodic relational uncertainty peaks at moderate levels of intimacy. We conducted a cross–sectional study in which 328 romantic relationship participants reported their reactions to a hypothetical relational uncertainty increasing event. Although the effect size was small, findings documented a curvilinear association between intimacy and episodic relational uncertainty. Further, hierarchical regression results supported our predictions about the effects of intimacy and episodic relational uncertainty on people’s reactions to the events. We discuss the implications of our findings for understanding the roles of both intimacy and episodic relational uncertainty within romantic relationships.

Relational Uncertainty and Relational Information Processing Questions without Answers

This article seeks to understand how relational uncertainty coincides with people’s ability to process relational information. The general premise is that individuals experiencing relational uncertainty should have difficulty deriving inferences because they lack the knowledge necessary to identify and interpret relational cues. The authors use this reasoning to deduce hypotheses about how relational uncertainty may correspond with people’s perceptions of relationship talk, judgments of relational messages, and evaluations of the difficulty of interaction. They conducted a study of conversations between romantic partners (N = 120 couples). As predicted, relational uncertainty was negatively associated with people’s perceptions of relationship talk after controlling for the perceptions of third-party observers. Relational uncertainty was negatively associated with the extremity of people’s judgments about relational messages. Furthermore, relational uncertainty was positively associated with people’s perceptions of the difficulty of interaction. They conclude by discussing how these findings illuminate the connection between relational uncertainty and relational information processing.

Framing Social Reality The Relevance of Relational Judgments

Relational communication researchers have asserted that dominance and affiliation are the fundamental features of social reality. The authors argue that when individuals interpret interaction, they focus on one dimension or the other, such that dominance and affiliation are differentially salient. On that premise, the authors hypothesized that the relative salience of dominance or affiliation would be a function of the goal-defined context. Further, some investigators have argued that the notion of involvement is also essential to the study of relational communication. Although the authors concur, they believe that involvement is a fundamentally different type of construct than dominance or affiliation. The authors hypothesized that involvement is relevant to both dominance and affiliation judgments; it functions as an intensifier variable. A study was conducted in which participants rated the relevance of a series of word pairs that operationalized dominance, affiliation, and involvement within 12 interaction scenarios. Although there was evidence that the biological sex of the judge moderated the magnitude of some effects, the results were uniformly supportive of the hypotheses.

Relational uncertainty, partner interference, and infertility: A qualitative study of discourse within online forums

Infertility afflicts one in six couples and confronts partners with life decisions that have long-term implications for their partnerships. The authors analyzed discourse from online discussion board strings and blogs (N = 438) to consider how this reproductive disability is both affected by and transforms the marital relationship. Specifically, a relational turbulence model lens was used to gain insight into the salient relational issues of couples coping with infertility. A qualitative theme analysis revealed two relational uncertainty themes (relational invalidation and implications of blame), two partner interference themes (supremacy of the pregnancy goal and violated expectations for treatment involvement), and two identity themes (strengthened relational identity and personal identity shifts).

Power and Problem Appraisal: Perceptual Foundations of the Chilling Effect in Dating Relationships

Previous research indicating that a dating partners power exerts a chilling effect on confrontation has highlighted the role of anticipated negative consequences in decisions to withhold complaints. We suggested that a second reason for avoiding confrontation, perceiving problems to be trivial, is also promoted by attributing power to dating partners. We investigated the extent to which perceptions of a partners power influenced the appraised severity of hypothetical problem scenarios and the likelihood that individuals would avoid confrontation in those situations. Results indicated that attributing either dependence or punitive power to dating partners corresponded with less severe appraisals of problems and plans to avoid confrontation. Contrary to our expectations, problem severity appraisals did not mediate associations between perceptions of a partners power and plans to avoid confrontation. The discussion highlights the implications of these results for investigations of power in dating relationships and research on relationship maintenance.