Susan Sprecher

Sexual satisfaction in premarital relationships: associations with satisfaction, love, commitment, and stability.

This investigation focused on how sexual satisfaction is associated with relationship quality and stability in premarital couples. With data collected at multiple times over several years from a sample of heterosexual couples (who were all dating at Time 1), I examined how sexual satisfaction was associated with relationship satisfaction, love, commitment, and stability. At each wave of the study, sexual satisfaction was associated positively with relationship satisfaction, love, and commitment for both men and women. In addition, change in sexual satisfaction between Time 1 and Time 2 was associated with change over the same period in relationship satisfaction, love, and commitment. Furthermore, some evidence was found that sexual satisfaction was associated with relationship stability. Overall, sexual satisfaction had stronger links with relationship quality for men than for women.

Compassionate love for close others and humanity

A compassionate love scale was developed that can be used, in alternative forms, to assess compassionate or altruistic love for different targets (e.g., close others and all of humankind). Using three samples (total N= 529), the Compassionate Love scale was developed and piloted. Three studies (total N = 700) were then conducted to provide validation of the scale and to examine correlates of compassionate love. In support of our predictions, compassionate love was found to be associated positively with prosocial behavior, as directed both to close others and to all of humanity. Those who were more religious or spiritual experienced more compassionate love than those who were less religious or spiritual. Evidence was found that compassionate love is distinct from empathy. In the final study, we introduced a relationship-specific version of the Compassionate Love scale, and found that compassionate love for a specific close other was associated with the provision of social support for that person.

The Dissolution of Intimate Relationships: A Hazard Model

We conducted a longitudinal investigation to advance our understanding of determinants of the breakups of premarital relationships. We considered causes, derived from several major theories, that were located in a variety of sources ― in the relationship, in the social network environment, and in the individual. In the analyses we examined how measures of different factors affected the rate at which a relationship changed from intact to broken up

Liking Some Things (in Some People) more than Others: Partner Preferences in Romantic Relationships and Friendships

The present investigation examined the degree to which various characteristics are desired in five types of relational partners. Men and women (N = 700) indicated their preferences for several attributes in either a casual sex partner, dating partner, marriage partner, same-sex friend, or opposite-sex friend (randomly assigned). Participants also indicated how important it was to obtain a partner with the desired level of each attribute. Although participants most preferred warmth and kindness, expressivity and openness, and a good sense of humor across relationship types, they clearly distinguished between romantic/sexual relationships and friendships. Specifically, participants preferred (and felt that it was more important to obtain) higher levels of many desirable characteristics - including physical attractiveness, social status attributes, and disposition or personality traits (e.g., warmth, expressiveness, humor, intelligence) - in a romantic/sexual partner than in a friend. Participants also differentiated between same-sex and opposite-sex friend- ships. In general, they preferred higher levels of and/or believed it was more important to obtain physical attractive- ness, social status, and dispositional/personality attributes from opposite-sex friends than from same-sex friends. To at least some degree, mens preferences were associated with the number of others they believed were available for a particular type of relationship; womens preferences generally were associated with perceptions of their own desirability as a partner.

The relation between inequity and emotions in close relationships

This study examined the relation between perceived inequity and the experience of a variety of emotions in close, heterosexual relationships. The first goal was to test two hypotheses derived from Equity theory: (a) Perceived inequity is positively related to negative affect and negatively related to positive affect; and (b) Underbenefiting inequity is related to positive and negative affect to a greater degree than is overbenefiting inequity. The second goal of the study was to determine which specific emotions are most related to inequity. The third goal was to examine the impact of inequity on the emotions experienced, relative to the effects of other possible predictors. These issues were examined in a survey study of more than 500 men and women. The results indicated that inequity is related, in the directions predicted, to positive and negative emotions experienced in the relationship, even controlling for other determinants of emotions. The strength of the relationship was found to depend on the specific type of emotion examined, whether the inequity was in the underbenefiting or overbenefiting direction, and the gender of the individual.

Social exchange theories and sexuality

Social Exchange Theory is one of the social science theories that have been applied to the study of human sexuality. This theoretical perspective is of particular relevance for understanding sexuality as it is negotiated between two people who have a relationship with each other. In this article, I describe three specific social exchange models with particular relevance to sexuality: equity theory (e.g., Walster, Walster, & Berscheid, 1978), the Investment Model (Rusbult, 1980, 1983), and the Interpersonal Model of Sexual Satisfaction (Lawrance & Byers, 1992, 1995). Then, I discuss how the general social exchange perspective or one of the more specific exchange models/theories has been applied to five topics that focus on sexuality within a relational context: (a) partner selection, (b) onset of sexual activity, (c) sexual satisfaction, (d) sexual initiation and refusal, and (e) extradyadic sexual behavior.

Development of the `Romantic Beliefs Scale' and Examination of the Effects of Gender and Gender-Role Orientation:

Through a program of research, a scale was developed to measure beliefs that have been identified in the literature as constituting an ideology of romanticism. The final scale items were selected and subjected to several reliability and validity tests in a survey study conducted with 730 undergraduate students. The results provided strong support for the validity and reliability of the Romantic Beliefs Scale as well as for the four beliefs comprising the scale: Love Finds a Way, One and Only, Idealization, and Love at First Sight. Furthermore, romanticism was found to be related to gender and gender-role orientation. Men were generally more romantic than women, and femininity was a stronger predictor of romanticism than was masculinity. These findings are discussed as a function of both social structure and personal predispositions.

Partner preferences: What characteristics do men and women desire in their short-term sexual and long-term romantic partners?

Abstract The current investigation extends recent studies that have examined the degree to which various traits are preferred in a short-term sexual relationship versus a long-term romantic relationship. College students (N = 561) expressed their preferences for 23 traits or characteristics in a “short-term sexual” or a “long-term romantic” relationship partner (randomly assigned). Across relationship types, participants preferred internal qualities (e.g., personality, intelligence) to a greater degree than external qualities (e.g., wealth, physical attractiveness). In addition, two sex differences were found. As expected, men emphasized attributes related to sexual desirability more than did women, and women valued characteristics pertaining to social status more than did men. Finally, both men and women focused upon sexual desirability (e.g., attractiveness, health, sex drive, athleticism) when evaluating a short-term sexual partner, and placed more importance on similarity and on socially appealing personality characteristics (e.g., intelligence, honesty, warmth) when considering a long-term romantic relationship.

Equity and Intimate Relations: Recent Research

Equity theory is a social psychological theory concerned with justice in all interpersonal relationships. Until recently, however, equity principles have been examined only in casual role relations (i.e., employer-employee, philanthropist-recipient, and harmer-victim relations) and have not been examined in more personal relations (see Walster (Hatfield), Walster, & Berscheid, 1978). The distinction between role relationships and personal relationships is a long-standing and important one (see Cooley, 1902; Tonnies, 1887). Given the importance of primary, intimate relations, it would be a grave omission to overlook such relations in theory and research on interpersonal behavior.

Investment model, equity, and social support determinants of relationship commitment.

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the explanatory power of several predictors of relationship commitment. Relationship commitment was expected to vary directly with satisfaction, investments, and social support for the relationship and inversely with alternative quality and inequity. The hypotheses were tested with data collected from both partners of 197 couples. Results showed that all of the predictor variables except investments were related to relationship commitment, and in the directions predicted. The two most important predictors of relationship commitment were alternatives and satisfaction.