Laura E. VanderDrift

Support to Aging Parents and Grown Children in Black and White Families

PURPOSE Black and White middle-aged adults typically are in a pivot position of providing support to generations above and below. Racial differences in support to each generation in the family remain unclear, however. Different factors may account for racial differences in support of grown children versus aging parents. DESIGN AND METHODS Middle-aged adults (aged 40-60 years; 35%, n = 216 Black and 65%, n = 397 White) rated social support they provided each aging parent and grown child. Participants reported background characteristics representing their resources and measures of needs for each family member. Interviews also assessed beliefs about obligation to support parents and grown children and rewards from helping. RESULTS Multilevel models revealed White middle-aged adults provided more support to grown children than Black middle-aged adults. Demands from offspring, beliefs about support, and rewards from helping explained these racial differences. Black middle-aged adults provided more support to parents than White middle-aged adults. Beliefs about support and feelings of personal reward from providing support explained this difference but resources and demands did not. IMPLICATIONS Racial differences varied by generation (parent or offspring). The prolonged transitions common for White young adults explained racial differences in support of offspring. Middle-aged adults may treat support of parents as more discretionary, with cultural ideas about obligation and personal rewards guiding behaviors.

Filling the Void Bolstering Attachment Security in Committed Relationships

Attachment security has many salutary effects in adulthood, yet little is known about the specific interpersonal processes that increase attachment security over time. Using data from 134 romantically committed couples in a longitudinal study, we examined trust (whether a partner is perceived as available and dependable) and perceived goal validation (whether a partner is perceived as encouraging one’s personal goal pursuits). In concurrent analyses, trust toward a partner was uniquely associated with lower attachment anxiety, whereas perceiving one’s goal pursuits validated by a partner was uniquely associated with lower attachment avoidance. In longitudinal analyses, however, the inverse occurred: Trust toward a partner uniquely predicting reduced attachment avoidance over time and perceived goal validation uniquely predicting reduced attachment anxiety over time. These findings highlight distinct temporal paths for bolstering the security of attachment anxious versus attachment avoidant individuals.

Nonmarital Romantic Relationship Commitment and Leave Behavior: The Mediating Role of Dissolution Consideration

Two studies investigated the process by which individuals in nonmarital romantic relationships characterized by low commitment move toward enacting leave behaviors. Predictions based on the behavioral, goal, and implementation intention literatures were tested using a measure of dissolution consideration developed for this research. Dissolution consideration assesses how salient relationship termination is for an individual while ones relationship is intact. Study 1 developed and validated a measure of dissolution consideration and Study 2 was a longitudinal test of the utility of dissolution consideration in predicting the enactment of leave behaviors. Results indicated that dissolution consideration mediates the association between commitment and enacting leave behaviors, is associated with taking more immediate action, and provides unique explanatory power in leave behavior beyond the effect of commitment alone. Collectively, the findings suggest that dissolution consideration is an intermediate step between commitment and stay/leave behavior in close relationships.

Sexual Communication, Satisfaction, and Condom Use Behavior in Friends with Benefits and Romantic Partners

Although “friends with benefits” relationships (FWBRs) are common and have been the subject of significant media and research attention, relatively little is known about them, especially in terms of how they differ from other types of relationships. The present research sought to compare the sexual outcomes of FWBRs to those of traditional romantic relationships via an online survey. Results revealed that FWBR partners were less likely to be sexually exclusive, had a lower frequency of sexual interaction, were less sexually satisfied, and generally communicated less about sex than romantic partners did. However, compared to romantic partners, FWBR partners devoted relatively more of the time spent together to sexual activity, practiced safe sex more frequently, communicated more often about extradyadic sexual experiences, and reported a greater number of lifetime casual sex partners. These findings indicate that the sexual outcomes of FWBRs and romantic relationships are quite distinct and provide evidence of the potential public health implications associated with both casual and committed sexual relationships.

Reduced self-expansion in current romance and interest in relationship alternatives

Two studies examined the process by which romantic relationship partners who report lower self-expansion in their relationship come to show greater interest in their alternatives. We tested predictions based on the alternatives literature in which lacking relationship-derived self-expansion would lead to failures of motivational bias (i.e., devaluing attractive alternatives) and perceptual bias (i.e., failing to notice attractive alternatives) to influence perceptions of alternatives. We conducted two cross-sectional studies, one designed to test failure of the motivational bias and one the perceptual bias. Results supported the predictions, indicating that both biases fail to operate in individuals whose current romantic relationship provides insufficient self-expansion. We discuss implications for relationship outcomes, as well as for the theoretical understanding of alternatives.

Relational consequences of personal goal pursuits.

Individuals balance tasks necessary to fulfill personal goals and to maintain their interpersonal relationships. In the current studies, we examined the impact of personal goal pursuits on how individuals process and respond to events in their romantic relationships. In 5 experiments, we examined consequences of motivationally active personal goals for relationships. Results indicated that when individuals focused on pursuing a personal goal, they processed relationship information in an evaluatively polarized (Study 1), one-sided (Study 2) fashion. Relative to those deliberating about a personal goal, those focused on a personal goal reported less willingness to engage in some kinds of pro-relationship behaviors (Study 3) and were more likely to forego an opportunity to improve their relationship (Study 4). We attribute this pattern of findings to processing that shielded the personal goal from goal-irrelevant influence (Study 5). These findings provide a greater understanding of how pursuing a personal goal can undermine relationships.

Committed to us Predicting relationship closeness following nonmarital romantic relationship breakup

There is little research on the nature of relationships between individuals following the termination of a nonmarital romantic relationship. It is largely unknown to what extent former romantic partners remain close following breakup. The present research used the Investment Model of Commitment Processes, assessed prior to romantic breakup, to examine the closeness of post-breakup relationships. Results obtained from two waves of data collected from 143 young adults involved in romantic relationships at Time 1 and experiencing a romantic breakup by Time 2 indicated that pre-breakup romantic commitment mediated the effects of pre-breakup romantic satisfaction, investments, and alternatives on post-breakup closeness, with higher pre-breakup commitment predicting greater post-breakup closeness. Implications of these findings for understanding the underlying dynamics of ongoing interpersonal relationships and directions for future research are discussed.

On the benefits of valuing being friends for nonmarital romantic partners

Romantic relationships are, at their core, friendships. As such, it may be the case that valuing that aspect of the relationship fortifies the romantic relationship against negative outcomes and serves as a buffer against dissolution. We explored the role of valuing friendship within romantic relationships in two two-wave studies examining whether investing in the friendship aspect of the relationship (Study 1; N = 190) and placing importance on affiliative need fulfillment (Study 2; N = 184) were associated with positive concurrent outcomes and positive outcomes over time. Results revealed that valuing the friendship aspect of a romance is a strong positive predictor of concurrent romantic relationship qualities (i.e., love, sexual gratification, and romantic commitment), is associated with increases in these qualities over time and is negatively associated with romantic dissolution. Furthermore, evidence suggests that these benefits come from valuing friendship specifically, rather than any other aspect of the relationship (e.g., the sexual aspect).

Norms, Diplomatic Alternatives, and the Social Psychology of War Support

Using experiments, we show that subjects who are asked about their support for war without being told about diplomatic strategies to deal with crises back military operations at levels consistent with people who are told that the alternatives to war are of low quality. In contrast, subjects who are told that diplomacy could work to resolve conflicts express less support for military operations. These results suggest that, in the absence of conflicting evidence, people premise their support for war on the assumption that leaders use force as a last resort. Implications for the study of success as an influence on public attitudes about US military operations are considered.

Need fulfillment and stay–leave behavior On the diagnosticity of personal and relational needs

Need fulfillment has been found to be associated with numerous positive relationship outcomes, but its impact on stay–leave behavior is less clear. In the current study, we considered whether the fulfillment of different needs might differentially affect stay–leave behavior. We distinguished between needs that are personal in nature and those that are relational in nature. Central to our theoretical analysis is the interdependence-based contention that the fulfillment of different kinds of needs provides diagnostic information regarding a partner’s motives and intentions regarding a relationship. Using two-wave longitudinal data obtained from romantically involved participants, we tested the relative fit of two alternative models that specified the associations between the fulfillment of different kinds of needs, commitment, and stay–leave behavior. Consistent with an interdependence approach, we found that the influence of the fulfillment of personal needs on stay–leave behavior was mediated by commitment, whereas the fulfillment of relational needs directly influenced stay–leave behavior. Implications for relationship functioning are considered.