Mariko Visserman- PhD
- Assistant Professor at University of Sussex
Mariko Visserman
- PhD
- Assistant Professor at University of Sussex
About
28
Publications
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Introduction
I study romantic relationships, with a central focus on sacrifice (e.g., balancing self and relationship interests, perceptions of partners' sacrifice experiences and intentions, and determinants of gratitude in response to partners' sacrifices). Find out more about me and my work on my website: marikovisserman.com
Current institution
Publications
Publications (28)
Perceiving a partner’s gratitude has several benefits for romantic relationships. We aimed to better understand these associations by decomposing perceptions into accuracy and bias. Specifically, we examined whether accuracy and bias in perceiving a partner’s experience (Study 1: N dyads = 205) and expression (Study 2: N dyads = 309) of gratitude w...
In a sample of 229 individuals who recently undertook a large-scale sacrifice by relocating for their romantic partner’s job or schooling (i.e., accompanying partners), we tested preregistered predictions linking accompanying partners’ attachment insecurities (i.e., attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) and relationship functioning (i.e., re...
Romantic partners regularly sacrifice their own self-interest when partners' needs and preferences diverge. The present work examines the role of perceived partner responsiveness (PPR)-impressions that one's partner is understanding, caring, and validating-in positively shaping people's appraisals of their relational sacrifices. In Study 1, a prere...
While previous research has found that prosocial behavior increases personal and relationship well-being, a particularly costly type of prosocial behavior—sacrifice—can sometimes have aversive effects and is the focus of the current review. We consider effects for both the individual who enacts the sacrifice and the recipient. Sacrifice can take a...
Romantic passion represents one of the most fragile and elusive elements of relationship quality but one that is increasingly valued and tied to relationship and individual well-being. We provide the first examination of whether experiencing personal self-expansion-positive self-change and personal growth without a romantic partner-is a critical pr...
Despite growing evidence that showing gratitude plays a powerful role in building social connections, little is known about how to best express gratitude to maximize its relational benefits. In this research, we examined how two key ways of expressing gratitude—conveying that the benefactor’s kind action met one’s needs (responsiveness-highlighting...
Given the powerful implications of relationship quality for health and well-being, a central mission of relationship science is explaining why some romantic relationships thrive more than others. This large-scale project used machine learning (i.e., Random Forests) to 1) quantify the extent to which relationship quality is predictable and 2) identi...
When romantic partners sacrifice their own self-interest to benefit the relationship, the sacrificer or recipient may—for various reasons—be biased in how they perceive the costs that the sacrificer incurs. In Study 1, romantic couples ( N = 125) rated their own and their partner’s costs after a conversation about a sacrifice in the laboratory, fol...
Romantic partners regularly encounter conflicts of interests and sacrifice their self-interest for their partner or the relationship. But is this relationship maintenance behavior always appreciated by the partner receiving the sacrifice? We examined whether expectations of sacrifices (i.e., beliefs that sacrifices are necessary, normal, and expect...
Power in Close Relationships - edited by Christopher R. Agnew February 2019
Significance
Biologists and social scientists have long tried to understand why some societies have more fluid and open interpersonal relationships—differences in relational mobility—and how those differences influence individual behaviors. We measure relational mobility in 39 societies and find that relationships are more stable and hard to form i...
The Art of Sacrifice: Self-Other Dilemmas, Biased Perceptions, and the Emergence of Gratitude
https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/the-art-of-sacrifice-self-other-dilemmas-biased-perceptions-and-t
Although gratitude plays a central role in the quality of relationships, little is known about how gratitude emerges, such as in response to partners' sacrifices. Do people need to accurately see these acts to feel grateful? In two daily experience studies of romantic couples (total N = 426), we used a quasi-signal detection paradigm to examine the...
This supplemental materials on predictors of sacrifice detection is supplemental to our article "To "see" is to feel grateful? A quasi-signal detection analysis of romantic partners' sacrifices", published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2018.
Gratitude is robustly linked to many positive outcomes for individuals and relationships (e.g., greater life and relationship satisfaction). However, little is known about how romantic partners come to feel grateful for each other’s pro-relational acts, such as when a partner makes a sacrifice. The present research examines how perceptions of partn...
Low self-esteem is often related to interpersonal difficulties. In fact, low self-esteem people fear rejection and tend to adopt self-protection goals. In the present work, we tested the idea that when low self-esteem individuals decide to sacrifice personal preferences for their relationship, they come to regret those actions, with further consequ...
Although romantic partners strive to achieve an optimal balance in fulfilling both personal and relational concerns, they are inevitably challenged by how much time and effort they can dedicate to both concerns. In the present work, we examined the role of self-control in successfully maintaining personal–relational balance through promoting balanc...
Empathy has often been discussed as a beneficial process from which favorable individual and interpersonal experiences may be derived. The present work investigates whether empathy may sometimes be a burden rather than a benefit, under certain interpersonal circumstances. Specifically, we hypothesized that encountering situations of divergence of i...
Previous research has found that some people suppress their emotions when making a sacrifice for their relationship partner and that this can reduce relationship satisfaction. We suggest that trust in one's partner determines who suppresses their emotions during a sacrifice. We hypothesize that individuals with low, compared to high, trust in their...
