Chantal Bacev-Giles

• Ph.D (Psychology)
• Research Affiliate at Carleton University

New and exciting activities with a partner have been linked to a variety of benefits for intimate relationships; however, less is known about what hinders these activities. The goal of the present research was to examine the barriers that people face when planning shared new and exciting (i.e., self-expanding) relationship activities with their int...

Self-expansion in intimate relationships (i.e., broadening one’s perspective through engaging in novel, exciting activities with a partner) has been associated with relationship benefits. The goal of this study was to propose a motivational model of self-expansion to understand what prompts people to engage in self-expanding activities in their rel...

Incorporating growth (i.e., broadening one’s perspective of the self, partner, and world) is an important feature for the maintenance of satisfying and long-lasting intimate relationships. However, as relationships progress and people increasingly gain familiarity with their intimate partner, the opportunities for growth decline. According to the s...

In the early stages of romantic relationships, sexual desire is often intense, but over time, as partners get to know each other, desire tends to decline. Low sexual desire has negative implications for relationship satisfaction and maintenance. Self-expansion theory suggests that engaging in novel activities with a long-term romantic partner can r...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0147325.].

Novel couple activities have benefits for relationship maintenance; however, challenges can impede engagement. Two studies examined how feelings of insecurity and uncertainty impact the likelihood of engaging in novel couple activities. In Study 1, participants in intimate relationships (N = 166) planned either an upcoming novel or familiar date wi...

Four studies examined how mental abstraction affects how people perceive their relationships with other people, specifically, how these relationships may be categorized in social groups. We expected that individuals induced to think abstractly would report fewer more global social groups, compared to those induced to think concretely, who would rep...

Shared novel couple activities (i.e., trying new things with a romantic partner) are an important relationship maintenance tool; however, little research has examined the challenges that are related with these activities. In two studies, we examined the frequency of these activities, the role of individual differences, and the associated challenges...

Findings provide initial evidence for one way people might manage their resources across a wide array of relationships – through the use of social groups/ categories (e.g., Mental Accounting Theory). • Perhaps people keep track of the resources they expend within their various social groups (i.e., accounts) and this ultimately determines how they w...

The current research investigated how people navigate their complex social world, and identified factors that determine how one’s social world is structured. In Study 1, we established common social groups that individuals identify with (e.g., school friends, blood related family, extended family, etc.). In Study 2, participants (N = 86) completed...

Research has suggested that individuals tend to idealize their intimate partners (Murray, Holmes, & Griffin, 1996). Idealizations occur when a close other’s favourable attributes are overestimated. The current study investigated idealization on the social networking site Facebook. Specifically, it examined the effects of attachment style on idealiz...