Margaret S. Clark

Interpersonal attraction in exchange and communal relationships.

Communal relationships, in which the giving of a benefit in response to a need for the benefit is appropriate, are distinguished from exchange relationships, in which the giving of a benefit in response to the receipt of a benefit is appropriate. Based on this distinction, it was hypothesized that the receipt of a benefit after the person has been benefited leads to greater attraction when an exchange relationship is preferred and decreases attraction when a communal relationship is desired. These hypotheses were supported in Experiment 1, which used male subjects. Experiment 2, which used a different manipulation of exchange versus communal relationships and female subjects, supported the hypotheses that (a) a request for a benefit after the person is aided by the other leads to greater attraction when an exchange relationship is expected and decreases attraction when a communal relationship is expected, and (b) a request for a benefit in the absence of prior aid from the other decreases attraction when an exchange relationship is expected.

The Difference between Communal and Exchange Relationships: What it is and is Not

Replying to Batson (this issue), who argues that the difference between communal and exchange relationships is less than might be imagined, the authors review the communal/exchange distinction, discuss what it does and does not mean, and address specific issues raised by Batson. They conclude, contrary to claims by Batson, that (a) ingratiation cannot account for all the findings supporting the communal/exchange distinction; (b) if desire for a communal relationship leads to ingratiation, that does not contradict the distinction; (c) if communal norms are followed for other than altruistic reasons, that does not undermine the distinction, (d) the difference between communal and exchange relationships is not limited to the breadth of benefits exchanged; (e) the difference between communal and exchange relationships is not limited to a difference in etiquette; rather, the communal/exchange distinction provides a theoretical explanation for the difference in etiquette.

Recipient's Mood, Relationship Type, and Helping

We conducted two studies to examine how a potential helper is affected by having a communal orientation toward a relationship with a potential recipient and by the potential recipients sadness. We hypothesized that (a) having a communal orientation would increase helping and that (b) people high in communal orientation, but not others, would respond to a potential recipients sadness by increasing helping. These hypotheses were tested in two studies. In Study 1, individual differences in communal orientation toward relationships were measured by using a new communal orientation scale reported for the first time in this article. In Study 2, manipulations were used to lead subjects to desire either a communal or an exchange relationship with another person. In both studies, subjects were exposed to a sad person or to a person in a neutral mood whom they were given a chance to help. As hypothesized, in both studies communally oriented subjects helped the other significantly more than did others. Also as hypothesized, in both studies communally oriented subjects but not others, increased helping in response to the other persons sadness although this effect reached statistical significance only in the second study.

Social skills and the stress-protective role of social support.

Cross-sectional analyses of data collected from a large sample of incoming college freshmen were used to determine whether the perceived availability of social support protects persons from stress-induced depressive affect; whether social competence, social anxiety, and self-disclosure are responsible for the stress-protective effect of perceived social support; and whether these social skill measures discriminate among persons for whom support will help, hinder, or be ineffective in the face of stress. Prospective analyses based on the original testing (beginning of school year) and 11- and 22-week follow-ups of a randomly selected subsample were used to determine how the same social skill factors influence the development and maintenance of support perceptions and of friendships. Evidence is provided for a stress-buffering role of the perceived availability of social support. The stress-buffering effect is unaffected by controls for the possible stress-protective influences of social anxiety, social competence, and self-disclosure. Although these social skill factors do not discriminate among persons for whom support will help, hinder, or be ineffective, they are prospectively predictive of the development of both social support and friendship formation. These prospective relations between social skills and the development of perceived availability of social support are only partly mediated by number of friends.

Keeping track of needs in communal and exchange relationships.

Keeping track of needs in communal and exchange relationships was investigated in two experiments. In both, subjects could check to see if another person needed help. The first experiment tested the hypotheses that When there is no opportunity for the other to reciprocate in kind, keeping track of the others needs will be greater if the person desires a communal relationship with the other than if the person desires an exchange relationship with the other. If the person desires an exchange relationship with the other, keeping track of the others needs will be greater when an opportunity for the other to reciprocate in kind exists than when it does not. If a communal relationship is desired, the existence of an opportunity for the other to reciprocate in kind will not influence keeping track of the others needs. The results of the first experiment supported all three hypotheses. The second experiment tested and found support for the hypothesis that even when nothing can be done to help the other, keeping track of the others needs will be greater if a communal relationship is desired with the other than if an exchange relationship is desired.

Record keeping in two types of relationships.

On the basis of a distinction between communal and exchange relationships (Clark & Mills, 1979; Mills & Clark, 1982), the following predictions were made: (a) Members of exchange relationships would keep track of individual inputs into joint tasks and (b) members of communal relationships would not. These hypotheses were tested in three studies. In each study, subjects worked on a task with a partner with whom they (a) desired or had a communal relationship or (b) desired or had an exchange relationship. The task involved locating and circling number sequences in a large matrix. Whether subjects used a pen of the same or of a different color from that used by their partner served as the dependent measure. If partners worked with pens of the same color individual inputs wee obscured. If they worked with different color pens, individual inputs were clear. Given this, if the proportion of subjects in a condition choosing different color pens was greater than 50% (chance), it was taken as evidence that subjects in that condition were trying to keep track of individual inputs. If this proportion was less than 50%, it was taken as evidence that subjects were trying to avoid keeping track of individual inputs. As predicted, in all three studies the proportion of subjects in the exchange conditions who chose a different color pen was significantly greater than 50% and was significantly greater than the proportion of subjects in the communal conditions who chose a different color pen. Also as expected, in no study was this percentage greater than 50% in he communal conditions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Arousal cues arousal-related material in memory: implications for understanding effects of mood on memory

Evidence is presented that (1) arousal acts as a cue for arousal related material in memory, and (2) this effect may partially underlie mood cuing mood-related material from memory. Specifically, two studies are presented showing that material people learn when in a high arousal state and material they learn when in a normal arousal state is subsequently best recalled when they are in a similar arousal state. Then a brief review of literature and a third study are presented supporting the claim that arousal acting as a cue for arousal-related material in memory may provide a partial explanation for why moods cue similarly toned material from memory. The literature review reveals that positive mood inducers elicit elevated autonomic arousal and the third study shows that elevated arousal in combination with a positive mood enhances the effect the positive mood has on subsequent judgments, whereas arousal by itself has no impact on judgments. Finally, it is suggested that arousal acting as a cue for arousal-related material in memory may account for such previously observed phenomena as state-dependent memory effects produced by alcohol and drugs, “misattribution” of arousal, “excitation transfer,” and effects that arousal has been shown to have on self-focus and humor.

Benefits of Expressing Gratitude Expressing Gratitude to a Partner Changes One’s View of the Relationship

This research was conducted to examine the hypothesis that expressing gratitude to a relationship partner enhances one’s perception of the relationship’s communal strength. In Study 1 (N = 137), a cross-sectional survey, expressing gratitude to a relationship partner was positively associated with the expresser’s perception of the communal strength of the relationship. In Study 2 (N = 218), expressing gratitude predicted increases in the expresser’s perceptions of the communal strength of the relationship across time. In Study 3 (N = 75), participants were randomly assigned to an experimental condition, in which they expressed gratitude to a friend, or to one of three control conditions, in which they thought grateful thoughts about a friend, thought about daily activities, or had positive interactions with a friend. At the end of the study, perceived communal strength was higher among participants in the expression-of-gratitude condition than among those in all three control conditions. We discuss the theoretical and applied implications of these findings and suggest directions for future research.

Physical temperature effects on trust behavior: the role of insula

Trust lies at the heart of person perception and interpersonal decision making. In two studies, we investigated physical temperature as one factor that can influence human trust behavior, and the insula as a possible neural substrate. Participants briefly touched either a cold or warm pack, and then played an economic trust game. Those primed with cold invested less with an anonymous partner, revealing lesser interpersonal trust, as compared to those who touched a warm pack. In Study 2, we examined neural activity during trust-related processes after a temperature manipulation using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The left-anterior insular region activated more strongly than baseline only when the trust decision was preceded by touching a cold pack, and not a warm pack. In addition, greater activation within bilateral insula was identified during the decision phase followed by a cold manipulation, contrasted to warm. These results suggest that the insula may be a key shared neural substrate that mediates the influence of temperature on trust processes.

Perceptions of Exploitation in Communal and Exchange Relationships

Using the distinction between communal and exchange relationships, it was hypothesized that failure to offer repayment for a favour would create perceptions of exploitativeness and decreases in attraction in exchange relationships but not in communal relationships. To test these hypotheses, subjects were led to expect a communal or an exchange relationship with a confederate. Shortly afterwards, the confederate asked the subject for a favour and subsequently either promised repayment or not. Finally, subjects indicated how exploitative and attractive they perceived the other to be. As predicted, failure to offer repayment increased perceived exploitativeness and decreased attraction when an exchange relationship was expected but not when a communal relationship was expected.