Kayla Knopp

Stuck on you: How dedication moderates the way constraints feel

Theorists agree that commitment has different components, but the interaction between two fundamental aspects of commitment—dedication (interpersonal commitment) and constraint (external pressures to stay together)—has not been examined to our knowledge. The effects of the interaction between dedication and constraint on several measures of discomfort were examined among adults in opposite-sex dating relationships (N = 1,294). In the context of lower dedication, greater material or perceived constraint was associated with more psychological distress, feelings of entrapment, and anxiety about abandonment. These results indicate that constraints feel subjectively different depending on interpersonal commitment to the relationship. Examining such interactions may help researchers better understand the role of constraints in the developmental course of romantic relationship commitment.

Breaking Bad: Commitment Uncertainty, Alternative Monitoring, and Relationship Termination in Young Adults

Commitment uncertainty represents an ongoing state of conflicted feelings or thoughts about the future of a relationship. It is currently an underexplored dynamic within romantic relationships and may be a key component of young adult relationships that may influence the likelihood of relationship termination. When commitment is uncertain, individuals may engage in serious monitoring of relationship alternatives. The authors examined the associations between commitment uncertainty, serious alternative monitoring, attachment style, and relationship termination. Results supported the hypothesis that higher levels of commitment uncertainty are related to greater likelihood of termination. Interestingly, serious monitoring of alternatives was not related to relationship termination. Implications are offered for the management of these important relational processes.

Between- and within-subject associations of PTSD symptom clusters and marital functioning in military couples.

Using data from 570 male service members and their wives, the current study investigated over-time associations between male service members’ self-report of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and marital functioning (marital satisfaction, positive bonding, conflict behavior) as perceived by both spouses. Analyses spanned 5 time points over a 2-year period and fully disentangled between- and within-subject effects. Higher levels of all four PTSD symptom clusters (numbing, hyperarousal, effortful avoidance, and reexperiencing) showed significant between-subject associations with lower levels of marital satisfaction and positive bonding, and higher levels of conflict for both men and women, whereas there were markedly fewer significant within-subject associations. When running models with all four PTSD symptom clusters entered at once, the primary between-subject finding was that men with higher numbing symptoms overall reported poorer marital functioning in all domains; there were no significant between-subject links between numbing and marital functioning for women. In contrast, within-subject effects for numbing were found for both men and women, linking increased numbing with decreased positive bonding and increased conflict behavior over time; women also had lower marital satisfaction when their husbands reported relatively higher numbing. Between-subject analyses also revealed that for men with higher average levels of effortful avoidance, wives reported lower levels of satisfaction and positive bonding, whereas men themselves reported less frequent conflict behavior. Finally, within-subject effects showed that at times when men reported increased hyperarousal, they also perceived increased marital conflict, whereas women surprisingly reported increased marital satisfaction. Implications of divergent between- and within-subject results are discussed.