Heidi R. Riggio

Measuring Attitudes toward Adult Sibling Relationships: The Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scale:

Based on research noting the importance of sibling relation-ships throughout the lifespan and grounded in basic research on attitudes structure, a self-report instrument called the Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scale (LSRS) was developed. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the LSRS. A sample of 711 participants completed the LSRS, which measures three dimensions of the sibling relationship in childhood and adulthood: frequency and positivity of behavior toward the sibling, affect toward the sibling, and beliefs about the sibling and the sibling relationship. Results suggested that the LSRS possesses good psychometric properties, including high internal consistency of all six subscales and the total instrument, as well as evidence supporting a coherent factor structure and stability of responses over time. Significant correlations with social support, overall relation-ship satisfaction, closeness of the sibling relationship, the degree to which the sibling served as a role model, and a measure of various sibling relationship qualities supported the construct validity of the LSRS. Lack of correlations between the LSRS, social desirability, and theoretically unrelated scales demonstrated discriminant validity. Correlations with personality traits and psychological well-being indicated that satisfactory sibling relationships were associated with emotional adjustment. The utility of the LSRS for use in future research is discussed.

Emotional Expressiveness, Extraversion, and Neuroticism: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analytic investigation explored the relationship between measures of emotional expressiveness and the core personality constructs of Extraversion and Neuroticism. Measures of emotional expressiveness included both behavioral assessments of emotional encoding/expressiveness and self-report instruments. There were 34 effect sizes for the Extraversion-expressiveness relationship and 26 effect sizes for Neuroticism-expressiveness. The results revealed that self-report measures of emotional expressiveness yield Extraversion and Neuroticism effects that are not the same as effects provided by behavioral assessments of emotional expressiveness/encoding. However, there was a significant overall positive relationship between Extraversion and emotional expressiveness, regardless of type of expressiveness measure. Overall, Neuroticism was significantly negatively related to behavioral measures of emotional expressiveness, but unrelated to self-report measures. These results suggest that emotional expressiveness and extraversion are linked, but that self-report and behavioral measures of emotional expressiveness are not interchangeable. Nonverbal communication researchers should pay attention to both the type and scope of the instrument when selecting and using measures of emotional expressiveness.

Relations Between Parental Divorce and the Quality of Adult Sibling Relationships

Abstract Two theoretical approaches make opposite predictions concerning the effects of parental divorce on sibling relationship quality. From a social learning perspective, via modeling the individual learns negative patterns of interpersonal relations through the experience of parental conflict and divorce, which negatively affects relationship quality throughout the life span. A social support approach argues that sibling relationships may serve as a buffer to shield the individual from negative interactions between parents, perhaps resulting in closer, more intimate sibling relationships. Two hundred sixty-four college students described one of their sibling relationships using the Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scale (LSRS; Riggio, 2000), a standardized measure of attitudes toward the sibling in childhood and adulthood. Results indicated that young adults who experienced parental divorce during later childhood or adolescence experienced significantly fewer positive feelings toward the sibling in adulthood, and recalled fewer positive feelings, beliefs, and behaviors toward the sibling in childhood compared to those who experienced parental divorce earlier in childhood and young adults from married families.

Structural Features of Sibling Dyads and Attitudes Toward Sibling Relationships in Young Adulthood

This study examined sibling-dyad structural variables (sex composition, age difference, current coresidence, position adjacency, family size, respondent and/or sibling ordinal position) and attitudes toward adult sibling relationships. A sample of 1,053 young adults (M age = 22.1 years) described one sibling using the Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scale. Position adjacency and family size were related to attitudes toward sibling relationships, including more positive recalled childhood sibling relationships in adjacent dyads and larger families and less positive sibling relationships recalled from childhood and in adulthood experienced by individuals with only one sibling. Results for respondent and sibling ordinal position were consistent, with individuals in the youngest-of-two ordinal position and those describing eldest siblings reporting less positive attitudes toward adult siblings. Implications for future research on the quality of adult sibling relationships throughout the life span are discussed.

Self-Efficacy in Romantic Relationships: Prediction of Relationship Attitudes and Outcomes

ABSTRACT Three studies examine discriminant and predictive validity of a self-report measure of self -efficacy in romantic relationships (Self-Efficacy in Romantic Relationships; SERR). Study 1 indicates SERR scores predict relationship anxiety and expectations of relationship success when general self-efficacy, self-esteem, social desirability, and efficacy beliefs about relating to specific relationship partners are considered. Study 2 indicates SERR scores predict later relationship satisfaction and commitment when relationship type and length are considered. Study 3 indicates that SERR scores predict later relationship outcomes when other self-efficacy indicators are considered. The SERR assesses broad feelings of relationship self-efficacy, independent of specific relationships or partners.

Introduction The Adaptive Response of Families to Maternal Employment: Part II—Family Perspectives

The increasing entrance of women into the American workforce during the past few decades is undoubtedly one of the greatest societal changes Americans have experienced, with important effects on family structure, dynamics, and the social and psychological development of individual family members. This second part of a double issue presents research investigating but a few of the myriad effects of changes in the workforce on the family, including outcomes for children and their mothers, as well as issues of growing concern for dual-earner families. Articles in this issue focus on the identities of working mothers; outcomes of maternal employment for children, including attitudes toward work and family in young adulthood; concerns about after-school care and retirement planning within dual-earner families; and community responsiveness to working families.The increasing entrance of women into the American workforce during the past few decades is undoubtedly one of the greatest societal changes Americans have experienced, with important effects on fa...

Paranoid Thinking, Quality of Relationships With Parents, and Social Outcomes Among Young Adults:

Research based on clinical samples suggests that poor-quality relationships with parents are associated with paranoid disorders; however, no research has investigated such relations within nonclinical populations. Undergraduate students (N = 179) completed self-reports of paranoid thinking, quality of relationships with mothers and fathers, loneliness, and social isolation. Paranoid thinking was associated with poor-quality relationships with parents and loneliness, including when both variables were considered simultaneously. Paranoid thinking was also associated with social isolation, but only for participants not currently residing with parents, suggesting that living in the family home may ameliorate links between paranoid thinking and isolation from friends. Family relationships are discussed as potential targets for clinical intervention in emerging adulthood.

Unanswered Prayers: Religiosity and the God-Serving Bias

Two self-report experiments examined how religiosity affects attributions made for a target person’s death. Online adults (Study 1, N = 427) and undergraduate students (Study 2, N = 326) read about Chris who had a heart attack, used religious or health behaviors, and lived or died. Participants made attributions to Chris and God (both studies), and reported their emotions (Study 2). Participants made more attributions to Chris when he lived than when he died, but only when he used health behaviors. The highly religious made more attributions to God, but not when Chris used religious behaviors and died (the God-serving bias); they reported the most positive emotions when Chris lived after using religious behaviors (the Hallelujah effect). Directions for future research in terms of implicit religious beliefs and normative evaluations of religion are discussed.

Latinos’ Perceptions of Interethnic Couples

Numerous survey findings indicate that the majority of White Americans are accepting of interracial romantic relationships. However, relatively few studies have looked at how different American ethnic minority groups view such relationships. The current research examined Latinos’ evaluations of intraethnic and interethnic couples. Latino participants (N = 207) read information about either a Latina-Latino, Latina-White, or Latina-Black romantic couple. The results indicate that the Latina-Black couple was evaluated less positively than the Latina-White couple on relationship quality and less positively than the other two couples on perceptions of social support. Latino men were especially likely to express negative emotions toward the Latina-Black couple compared with Latina women. The results are discussed in the context of intergroup relationships.

Contraceptive Attitudes and Sexual Self-Esteem Among Young Adults: Communication and Quality of Relationships with Mothers

ABSTRACT. Objectives: This study investigated relations between quality of relationships with mothers and communication with mothers about sex with contraceptive attitudes and sexual self-esteem among emerging adults. Methods: Undergraduate students (N = 176, Mage = 22 years 65% women) completed self-report measures of relationships with mothers, communication about sex, and sexual self-esteem. Results: Results indicated positive relations between quality of relationships with mothers and open, positive sex communication, for men and women, sexually and not sexually active; and between relationship quality with mothers, sex communication with mothers, and sexual self-esteem of women. Conclusions: Warm, supportive relationships with mothers in emerging adulthood include open, comfortable communications about sexuality, which were linked to features of sexual well-being of young adults.