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Social anxiety and romantic relationships: The costs and benefits of negative emotion expression are context-dependent
Abstract
In general, expressing emotions is beneficial and withholding emotions has personal and social costs. Yet, to serve social functions there are situations when emotions are withheld strategically. We examined whether social anxiety influenced when and how emotion expressiveness influences interpersonal closeness in existing romantic relationships. For people with greater social anxiety, withholding the expression of negative emotions was proposed to preserve romantic relationships and their benefits. We examined whether social anxiety and emotion expressiveness interacted to predict prospective changes in romantic relationship closeness over a 12-week period. For people with less social anxiety, relationship closeness was enhanced over time when negative emotions were openly expressed whereas relationship deterioration was found for those more likely to withhold emotions. The reverse pattern was found for people with greater social anxiety such that relationship closeness was enhanced over time for those more likely to withhold negative emotions. Related social anxiety findings were found for discrepancies between desired and actual feelings of closeness over time. Findings were not attributable to depressive symptoms. These results suggest that the costs and benefits of emotion expression are influenced by a person's degree of social anxiety.
... It is also suggested that individuals with social anxiety will use relationships as refuges and be more likely to stay even if the relationship is not as successful due to the fear of the task of finding a new partner in the event of a breakup (Porter & Chambless, 2017). Other aspects of anxiety like fear of a reaction or lack of reaction from others, fear of being a burden to others especially to a partner, doubts about self and others, and overthinking situations or interactions can impact relationships negatively (Kashdan et al., 2007). It has been shown that those with a high level of anxiety tend to have more fear surrounding relationships than those with a lower level of anxiety and are more likely to remain in relationships due to the fear of change (George et al., 2020). ...
... When anxious individuals express their negative emotions their self-doubt increases as they worry about the situation and the response of their partner. This causes further worries about the impacts their expressions will have on the relationship and its future (Kashdan et al., 2007). In this way anxiety acts as a barrier when it comes to vital communication within a relationship and which in turn can create more stress within the relationship and lead to a less satisfactory relationship for the other person. ...
... For individuals with a lower level of anxiety it is easier to communicate and be open with their partner because the fears and anxieties about the interaction are not as dominant in their thinking. This frees them to use skills and strategies to combat the anxiety that is present as well as have energy to practice using effective communication techniques (Kashdan et al., 2007). The use of tools and skills to combat anxiety and related thinking can be a significant benefit to romantic relationships and allow for a more balanced and successful relationship that will be maintained and sustained over a longer period of time. ...
This paper examines the impact of mental health on romantic relationships using a symbolic interactionist approach. Specifically, this paper will focus on the dimensions of anxiety/attachment, depression, and mastery/self-esteem and how they impact romantic relationships. The impact of these dimensions is not always negative; some of the aspects can have a positive impact on relationships.
... For example, socially anxious people rate their relationships as lower in emotional intimacy than non-anxious controls, indicating feelings of being neglected, lonely, and as though their partner does not listen or understand (Wenzel, 2002). Individuals with social anxiety are also more likely to be critical of partners during negative interactions (Wenzel, Graff-Dolezal, Macho, & Brendle, 2005), experience reduced closeness to partners when mutual pain/distress is expressed (Kashdan, Volkmann, Breen, & Han, 2007), and experience greater rejection concern following a rejection induction with their partner (Afram & Kashdan, 2015). Further, individuals with social anxiety report lower relationship satisfaction in their intimate relationships (Schneier et al., 1994;Sparrevohn & Rapee, 2009). ...
... Thus, further research is needed to clarify how perceived social support relates to relationship satisfaction for individuals with higher social anxiety. In relation to conflict initiation, individuals with high social anxiety tend to avoid conflict (Davila & Beck, 2002), and conflict avoidance has been associated with higher relationship satisfaction for those high in social anxiety (Kashdan et al., 2007). Further, scant research has been conducted examining trust, particularly dyadic trust, in populations experiencing social anxiety symptoms. ...
... These findings are contrary to expectations and previous research. For example, Kashdan et al. (2007) found that conflict avoidance was related to higher relationship satisfaction in highly anxious women. Similarly, Davila and Beck (2002) had found that individuals with higher social anxiety tended to avoid conflict. ...
Research investigating social anxiety and the impacts on romantic relationships remains scarce. An online questionnaire examining romantic relationship status, social anxiety and depression symptomology, relationship satisfaction, and several relationship processes was completed by 444 adults. Individuals with higher social anxiety were less likely to be in romantic relationships. For the 188 adults in our sample in current relationships, relationship satisfaction was not influenced by social anxiety when controlling for depression. Although it was proposed that self-disclosure, social support, trust, and conflict initiation might influence romantic relationship satisfaction, none of these mechanisms interacted with social anxiety to explain additional variance in relationship satisfaction. These findings indicate that depression symptomology may be a treatment target for socially anxious individuals wishing to improve romantic relationship satisfaction.
... Our surprising finding, that the guests higher in social anxiety enjoy a more significant boost of relatedness satisfaction, extends the existing research on customers with social anxiety with a nuanced consideration. It adds a novel understanding that customers with higher-level social anxiety can still gain a sense of relatedness observing the digitally displayed close relationship, despite their lack of faith in the reliability of close relationships, and that their need for intimacy cannot be easily met by their partner/friends (Kashdan et al., 2007). This is possible because of their unmet yet still existing strong desire for intimacy (Kashdan et al., 2007). ...
... It adds a novel understanding that customers with higher-level social anxiety can still gain a sense of relatedness observing the digitally displayed close relationship, despite their lack of faith in the reliability of close relationships, and that their need for intimacy cannot be easily met by their partner/friends (Kashdan et al., 2007). This is possible because of their unmet yet still existing strong desire for intimacy (Kashdan et al., 2007). While the existing literature has paid special attention to the social encounters/relationships people with social anxiety strive to avoid, less effort has been devoted to investigating the social cues they comfortably capture and benefit from. ...
With people in modern society increasingly feeling alienated, their desire for relatedness satisfaction simultaneously strengthens. A somewhat different phenomenon observed is that people book P2P accommodations for private rather than shared space with other strangers. This study proposes a novel social cue to be integrated into P2P accommodation marketing, displayed close relationships in a host's profile photo. This subtle way of social touches should potentially benefit the relatedness satisfaction of potential guests which they still implicitly desire and in turn enhance their enhanced booking intention. We adopted a combined-methods approach that combines secondary data from a home-sharing platform with two lab experiments. Findings support that displaying close relationships in the host profile photos facilitates P2P accommodation bookings; additionally, such an effect is mediated by the guests' relatedness satisfaction and is more evident when guests sense higher-level social anxiety. This study advances research on relationship management while providing practical implications for P2P accommodation platforms and hosts for strategic marketing design that integrates relatedness support.
... Dating anxiety can pose obstacles in social interactions, particularly within romantic contexts (Kashdan et al., 2007). Individuals who feel anxious when faced with dating situations may encounter difficulties engaging in conversations or establishing emotional connections. ...
... For example, individuals experiencing dating anxiety, regardless of gender, may struggle with forming and maintaining meaningful connections, leading to feelings of loneliness. This interpretation aligns with research suggesting that dating anxiety can hinder social interactions and relationship formation, thereby contributing to loneliness (Hakim, 2019;Kashdan et al., 2007). ...
In the digital age, online dating applications have revolutionized the way young adults form romantic connections, providing both opportunities and challenges. Understanding the psychological impacts of these platforms is crucial. Young adults, while navigating romantic pursuits and various developmental challenges, are susceptible to feelings of loneliness. Dating anxiety is a significant factor that can exacerbate loneliness within this demographic. Moreover, gender differences may influence individuals' experiences in dating situations. This research aims to explore the relationship between dating anxiety and loneliness among users of dating applications and to examine the role of gender as a moderating variable in this relationship. The study employs a quantitative correlational approach, incorporating demographic data and two scales: the Dating Anxiety Scale and the UCLA Loneliness Scale 3. The research participants consist of 250 early adults aged 20-34 who actively use online dating applications. Data analysis involves descriptive analysis and moderation analysis using the Jamovi software. The research findings indicate a significant direct relationship between dating anxiety and loneliness (p less than 0.001). Furthermore, gender was found to have no significant impact on loneliness (p more than 0.05), and the interaction between dating anxiety and gender was not significant (p more than 0.05). This suggests a uniform impact among both genders in the relationship between dating anxiety and loneliness. The study highlights the complex dynamics influencing loneliness among online dating application users. The findings enhance theoretical understanding of how dating anxiety relates to loneliness. Practically, these insights can help developers create features that reduce anxiety and loneliness. Future research should identify other factors influencing these dynamics to further enrich theoretical and practical knowledge in this field.
... While IOS is usually positively associated with relationship quality, closeness discrepancies are more substantially negatively related to relationship quality for both partners (Frost & Forrester, 2013;Frost & LeBlanc, 2022). The literature suggests robust negative associations between closeness discrepancies and mental health (e.g., social anxiety and negative emotional expression (Kashdan, Volkmann, Breen, & Han, 2007)), depressive symptoms (Frost & Forrester, 2013); relational well-being (e.g., relationship satisfaction (Frost & LeBlanc, 2022)), commitment (Frost & Forrester, 2013), love (Aron et al., 2004), and sexual well-being (e.g., sexual satisfaction and orgasm-frequency evaluation (Frost, McClelland, & Dettmann, 2017)). The negative impact of closeness discrepancies is experienced above and beyond the individual's actual closeness and is independent of the direction of discrepancy ("too close" versus "not close enough"). ...
... The too much closeness variable also ranged from 0, denoting the absence of closeness discrepancy, and 6, representing the maximum amount of feeling too much closeness in the present relationship. This method has been applied by previous research (Aron et al., 2004;Frost & Eliason, 2014;Frost & Forrester, 2013;Frost & LeBlanc, 2022Frost et al., 2017;Gamarel & Golub, 2019;Kashdan et al., 2007;Mashek, Le, Israel, & Aron, 2011;Mashek & Sherman, 2004). For the group comparisons in Table 1, three groups were created accordingly: (1) no closeness discrepancies included participants with no difference between actual and ideal IOS ratings and therefore a difference value of 0; (2) not enough closeness included all participants with actual closeness ratings lower than ideal closeness rating; and (3) too much closeness included all participants with actual closeness ratings higher than ideal closeness ratings. ...
The construct of inclusion of other in the self has been established as one of the most influential measures for relationship closeness in romantic relationships. It is regularly associated with relational well-being, sexual satisfaction, as well as mental health. However, the degree of closeness one desires in the present relationship is person-specific and can differ from the closeness one actually experiences. Exploring these discrepancies, the present study focused on the association between not enough closeness and too much closeness and relationship characteristics, parenting, and extradyadic sexual activity. Data from a population-based sample of 3,161 men and women from the German Health and Sexuality Survey were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Our results confirm closeness discrepancies as prevalent relationship phenomena, while identifying feelings of not enough closeness as much more problematic for the relationship.
... There is mixed research on negative self-disclosures. Kashdan et al., 2007 found that relationships can be enhanced by negative self-disclosures of those low in social anxiety but damaged by negative self-disclosures of those high in social anxiety. Different attributions could lead to different impressions following negative self-disclosure. ...
... Notably, Kashdan et al.'s (2007) findings are limited to the perceived closeness of the socially anxious participant and did not account for their partner's actual reactions. Socially anxious individuals often expect to be perceived negatively (Leary et al., 1988;Tissera et al., 2020) and are more likely to view ambiguous social stimuli as threatening (Curtis & Locke, 2007). ...
Making a good first impression is integral to forming and maintaining relationships, which affect nearly every aspect of one's life. Whether interviewing for a job or meeting a partner's friends and family, making positive first impressions can significantly improve one's quality of life. Research shows that social anxiety impedes a person's ability to make a good first impression. Wherein appearing anxious (i.e., tense, fidgeting, unstable vocal pitch) can cause a person to come across as less desirable, more submissive, detached, and less expressive. Social anxiety also contributes to one's negative interpretation of their impressions on others, further perpetuating this fear. However, there are specific strategies that can help people conquer social anxiety and make better first impressions. By creating self-distance (e.g., non-first-person self-talk, reflecting as if watching a stranger), focusing on others (e.g., learning about others, performing acts of kindness), and increasing self-expression, one can decrease social anxiety and make better first impressions.
... Several studies have examined the role of emotion expressivity and relationship health among those with SA. In one study, openly expressing negative emotions fostered feelings of closeness within the relationships of those low in SA (Kashdan et al., 2007). In contrast, among those high in SA, feelings of closeness were intensified only when negative emotions were withheld from one's partner. ...
... In contrast, if those with SA report lower levels of emotion expressivity with their partners, they might also experience decreased intimacy. Given prior research findings suggesting emotion expressivity and SA symptomatology impact not only overall relationship satisfaction but also intimacy (e.g., Porter & Chambless, 2014) and closeness (e.g., Kashdan et al., 2007), we included measures of each in our conceptualization of relationship health. ...
The present studies had two primary aims: (1) to examine how relationship-specific emotion expressivity and interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) influence relationship health and (2) to examine whether symptoms of social anxiety influence the association of relationship-specific emotion expressivity and IER on relationship health. Study 1 examined these aims using cross-sectional, self-report data from adults recruited from a local university. Study 2 sought to replicate the findings of Study 1 in an adult sample recruited through Mechanical Turk. Results suggest that relationship emotion expressivity has a positive association with relationship health via IER, regardless of social anxiety symptomatology. These studies extend previous findings on emotion regulation and relationship health among those with social anxiety and suggest the important role IER plays in relationship health, regardless of social anxiety symptomatology.
... While Negative emotional coping is associated with distress, it also involves focus on negative emotions and seems to be linked to expression of those emotions, with some potential benefits (Forgas & East, 2008;Kashdan et al., 2007;Koch et al., 2013). For example, people in a negative mood better comply with conversational norms during speech (Koch et al., 2013) and are more effective in detecting deception than people in a positive mood (Forgas & East, 2008). ...
... For example, people in a negative mood better comply with conversational norms during speech (Koch et al., 2013) and are more effective in detecting deception than people in a positive mood (Forgas & East, 2008). Interestingly, for people who are not socially anxious, relationship intimacy is greater when negative emotions are expressed openly (Kashdan et al., 2007). Moreover, afflicted individuals expressing negative emotions tend to receive more help from other people (Graham et al., 2008). ...
The aim of the book to present the Coping Circumplex Model (CCM) designed to integrate various coping constructs. The monograph begins with a review of stress theories and coping models. After that, current problems in stress psychology are described. In an attempt to address some of the above issues, the CCM and its development is described. Finally, the book presents an empirical verification of the CCM and provides a discussion of the results.
The CCM offers a new way of thinking about coping with stress. It integrates various coping categories, but it may also elucidate some contradictory findings about relationships between coping (e.g., different forms of problem avoidance) and distress depending on situation controllability. It may provide a suitable space for the integration of coping with other constructs (e.g., personality dimensions, dark triad, emotion regulation processes) and adjustment after trauma. The CCM may also foster the generation of new hypotheses in stress psychology and emotion regulation, (e.g., concerning the relationship between the continuum of reinterpretation and experienced emotions).
The Coping Circumplex Model: A Theoretical Synthesis of Coping Constructs and Its Empirical Verification can be useful for psychology academics interested in coping and stress research, emotion regulation, personality psychology, for researchers in fields close to psychology, such as medicine or sociology, as well as for undergraduate and postgraduate psychology students.
... Parents rate the items on a three-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (not true) to 2 (very true). The items Table 1 Sample and descriptive statistics No Diagnosis 262 (67) can be aggregated to eight syndrome scales (Anxious/ Depressed, Withdrawn/Depressed, Somatic Complaints, Social Problems, Thought Problems, Attention Problems, Rule-Breaking Behavior, Aggressive Behavior) and three broadband scales (Externalizing Problems, Internalizing Problems, Total Problems). In this study, we assessed scales of the CBCL dysregulation profile [47,48], which includes the scales Anxious/Depressed (part of the Internalizing Problems scale), Attention Problems (part of the total problems scale) and Aggressive Behavior (part of the Externalizing Problems scale). ...
... This points at the important issue of whether a strategy should be classified as functional or dysfunctional. It has been suggested that the functionality of a certain strategy depends on the individual's symptom background [67], the combination with other strategies (e.g. distraction has been found to be functional when combined with acceptance strategies and dysfunctional when combined with avoidance strategies [68];, the extent and flexibility of use of a strategy (e.g. more expression regulation might lead to overregulation and inhibition [69];), as well as the context [4]. ...
Objective
To examine and validate the self-report Questionnaire on the Regulation of Unpleasant Moods in Children (FRUST), which is a modified and shortened version of the Questionnaire for the Assessment of Emotion Regulation in Children and Adolescents (FEEL-KJ).
Methods
The data comprised child and parent ratings of a community-screened sample with differing levels of affective dysregulation (AD) ( N = 391, age: M = 10.64, SD = 1.33, 56% male). We conducted latent factor analyses to establish a factor structure. Subsequently, we assessed measurement invariance (MI) regarding age, gender, and AD level and evaluated the internal consistencies of the scales. Finally, we examined the convergent and divergent validity of the instrument by calculating differential correlations between the emotion regulation strategy (ERS) scales and self- and parent-report measures of psychopathology.
Results
A four-factor model, with one factor representing Dysfunctional Strategies and the three factors Distraction , Problem-Solving and Social Support representing functional strategies provided the best fit to our data and was straightforward to interpret. We found strong MI for age and gender and weak MI for AD level. Differential correlations with child and parent ratings of measures of psychopathology supported the construct validity of the factors.
Conclusions
We established a reliable and valid self-report measure for the assessment of ERS in children. Due to the reduced number of items and the inclusion of highly specific regulatory behaviors, the FRUST might be a valuable contribution to the assessment of ER strategies for diagnostic, therapeutic, and research purposes.
... Individuals with high social anxiety might fear and feel compelled to limit the development of intimacy in their relationships for a number of self-protective and relationship-protective reasons. Individuals with high social anxiety and SAD avoid self-disclosure (e.g., Meleshko & Alden [37]; Sparrevohn & Rapee [38]) and have difficulty in expressing personal beliefs, intentions and preferences to their intimate partners for fear of being rejected or abandoned [39][40][41]. This pattern of interpersonal difficulties is spread in Western societies and appears as an important risk factor for UM because highly socially anxious individuals tend to fear rejection [42]. ...
... Previous research (e.g., Sparrevohn & Rape [38]; Bodinger et al. [43]) has demonstrated that socially anxious individuals report lower satisfaction with various aspects of their relationships, including lower sexual satisfaction, in comparison to non-anxious individuals. Moreover a good communication about sexuality within the couple is related to a better intimacy and sexual satisfaction [39,44]. ...
Objective: In the middle eastern (MES) and western (WS) societies, sexuality follows different patterns in terms of meaning and rules. Moreover the evolution of societies all around the world created new contexts and kinds of relationship. This could hamper a correct taxonomy of such sexual dysfunctions where social variables are crucial. The aim of the present work is to collect and review data on Unconsummated Marriage (UCM) all around the world, to understand if in different societies it refers to the same situation. Design and Method: A review of published literature on UCM from different areas of the world was conducted. Results: Substantial difference emerged from MES to WS. In MES, sexuality is allowed only in marriage, while in WS sexuality and relationship are not strongly linked. This could suggest that the term “marriage” is unable to cover the phenomenon in such different countries. Moreover, the mean time before the consultation, causal attribution and prevalence are very different in such societies. Conclusions: We found that the term “Honeymoon impotence” could better describe male, female or both difficulties related to ignorance about sexuality or state/performance anxiety, typical in MES. On the other hand in WS over the individual category of sexual dysfunctions, we suggest a new term as “Unconsummated relationship”, where individual difficulties are involved creating a couple’s dysfunction.
... It refers to individuals' fear of being paid excessive attention by others or being negatively appraised by others in social settings, resulting in obvious tension and fear (3). Individuals with SAD usually show impaired social function, fear of criticism, avoidance of social situations, and other behaviors, which are reflected in interpersonal relationship problems and relationship maintenance problems (4,5). Individuals' anxiety can also have a negative influence on their physical and mental health. ...
Background
As one of the most common psychological problems, social anxiety disorder (SAD) has lots of negative effects on the physical and mental development of individuals, such as decreasing the quality of interpersonal relationships, and even causing depression, suicidal ideation, etc., as well as leads individuals to generate mental illness stigma. The mental illness stigma that individuals perceive affects not only how they perceive themselves (first-person perspective) but also how they perceive others’ appraisals of them (third-person perspective), which further exacerbates their anxiety symptoms.
Objective
The study aims to explore the self-processing characteristics of individuals with social anxiety disorder from the first-person perspective and the third-person perspective.
Methods
This study adopted the self-referential paradigm to conduct the recognition memory test on individuals with social anxiety disorder (30 participants in experiment 1) and individuals without social anxiety disorder (31 participants in experiment 2) in the two experiments.
Results
In experiment 1, the recognition rate of individuals with social anxiety disorder under the self-appraisals condition was significantly higher than that under the condition of appraisals on mothers; in the three conditions of self-appraisals, appraisals on mothers and mothers’ reflected appraisals, the recognition rate of negative trait adjectives was significantly higher than that of positive trait adjectives. In experiment 2, there was no significant difference in recognition rate of individuals without social anxiety disorder under the three conditions, and the recognition rate of positive trait adjectives was significantly higher than that of negative trait adjectives under the three conditions.
Conclusion
Individuals with social anxiety disorder have a negative bias in self-processing and are more likely to focus on self-information, which is different from the self-positive bias of individuals without social anxiety disorder. This study can be beneficial to know the self-cognitive characteristics of individuals with social anxiety disorder, help them get rid of negative cognitive patterns, and remove the mental illness stigma.
... Social anxiety (SA) is characterized by fear and avoidance of social interactions, particularly with unfamiliar individuals (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Individuals high in SA experience profound impairments in social functioning, including smaller social networks (Cheng et al., 2019), fewer and less satisfying close relationships (Alden & Taylor, 2010;Kashdan et al., 2007), as well as academic and occupational performance decrements (Aderka et al., 2012;Stein & Kean, 2000). SA often precedes the development of additional psychological disorders, most commonly major depression, substance use, and substance abuse (Grant et al., 2005;Kessler et al., 2012). ...
Social anxiety (SA) is characterized by significant impairments in social functioning, yet the processes maintaining such impairments are understudied. Reduced nonverbal synchrony has been highlighted as a possible mechanism underlying these impairments. To understand the nature of synchrony in SA, individuals (N = 150) were invited to participate in an unstructured playful 3-person group social interaction–drumming together. We examined physiological synchrony during this activity using cardiac interbeat intervals (IBI) and skin conductance levels (SCL). Behavioral coordination was operationalized as the number of times group members drummed together at the same time. Additionally, affect and task difficulty were assessed following the interaction. Mean group-level (but not individual-level) SA-severity negatively predicted IBI synchrony and positively predicted SCL synchrony. As expected, individual-level SA-severity negatively predicted mood and perceived task difficulty. Behavioral coordination was not predicted by SA. As playful, unstructured, and non-goal-directed interactions constitute a central social context for the formation and maintenance of group bonds, SA may contribute to social impairments via intrapersonal and interpersonal mechanisms. Clinical implications include the fact that diagnostically, in addition to intrapersonal measures (such as measures of anticipatory anxiety and felt anxiety during the interaction) we may also assess interpersonal measures—degrees of synchrony and enjoyment during group interactions. In terms of treatment—exposures may include not only situations in which one needs to achieve a certain intra-personal goal, but also situations in which one can be invited to be a leader in a fun, unstructured group activity.
... In this regard, if infidelity is noted, the perpetrator of the betrayal could feel strong emotional distress [37], especially if the infidelity is of a sexual nature, because such infidelity has been estimated as the most intransigent and causes greater distress in both the adult population [12,39] and the university-age and adolescent ones [3,7]. More specifically, if this last population were to be taken into account, the motivations for infidelity during adolescence (i.e., sexual and emotional dissatisfaction) could be weighed as internal and individual needs [1,40]. Such motivations could play a relevant role in balancing adolescents' emotional levels, especially of negative affect. ...
Background:
Infidelity is a relational process common in all types of romantic relationships and has been established as one of the main causes of relationship breakdown. However, little is known about this type of transgression in adolescent romantic relationships, although it manifests as a fairly frequent behavior involving different motivations. Even less is known about the emotional impact of infidelity on the offending person and its association with hostile behavior and psychological well-being.
Methods:
Through an experimental study (N = 301 Spanish adolescents (190 female and 111 male; Mage = 15.59, SD = 0.69; range from 15 to 17), we sought to analyze the effect of manipulating two types of motivations for infidelity (sexual vs. emotional dissatisfaction) on negative affect, hostility, and psychological well-being.
Results:
The main results revealed that committing infidelity motivated by hypothetical sexual (vs. emotional) dissatisfaction was indirectly related to lower psychological well-being through its effects on increased negative affect and hostility.
Conclusions:
Last but not least, we discuss these findings, highlighting the possible implications of infidelity for the psychosocial and psychosexual development of adolescents.
... In addition, negative emotions have been associated with partner blaming and engaging in demandwithdraw patterns (Tashiro & Frazier, 2007). However, some studies indicated that negative emotions do not negatively affect intimacy in couple relationship (Campos et al., 2015;Taylor et al., 2017), while other studies revealed positive association between expression of negative emotions and couple relationship outcomes, by eliciting support from partners and intimacy (Graham et al., 2008;Kashdan et al., 2007). ...
... For example, individuals who are more sensitive to social signals (e.g., those high in rejection sensitivity, high in social anxiety, or low in selfesteem) may be better off suppressing their emotions in contexts where emotions would be met with low social support. In line with this notion, prior work shows that the relational costs and benefits of sharing emotions with romantic partners are influenced by one's social anxieties and desire to avoid rejection (Kashdan et al., 2007). ...
While emotion regulation often happens in the presence of others, little is known about how social context shapes regulatory efforts and outcomes. One key element of the social context is social support. In two experience sampling studies (Ns = 179 and 123), we examined how the use and affective consequences of two fundamentally social emotion-regulation strategies-social sharing and expressive suppression-vary as a function of perceived social support. Across both studies, we found evidence that social support was associated with variation in people's use of these strategies, such that when people perceived their environments as being higher (vs. lower) in social support, they engaged in more sharing and less suppression. However, we found only limited and inconsistent support for context-dependent affective outcomes of suppression and sharing: suppression was associated with better affective consequences in the context of higher perceived social support in Study 1, but this effect did not replicate in Study 2. Taken together, these findings suggest that the use of social emotion-regulation strategies may depend on contextual variability in social support, whereas their effectiveness does not. Future research is needed to better understand the circumstances in which context-dependent use of emotion regulation may have emotional benefits, accounting for personal, situational, and cultural factors.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-022-00123-8.
... SAD is characterized by a fear of evaluation and avoidance of social situations, which can negatively affect social functioning (American Psychiatric Association, 2013;Clark and Wells, 1995). Indeed, individuals with SAD report having more interpersonal problems and difficulty maintaining relationships (Davila and Beck, 2002;Kashdan et al., 2007;Tonge et al., 2020). These issues extend beyond close relationships and can have a substantial negative impact on occupational and educational functioning (Schneier et al., 1994;Wittchen et al., 2000) above and beyond the effects of comorbidities including depression (Aderka et al., 2012). ...
Previous research has shown a weak association between self-reported empathy and performance on behavioral assessments of social cognition. However, previous studies have often overlooked important distinctions within these multifaceted constructs (e.g., differences among the subcomponents of self-reported empathy, distinctions in tasks assessing lower- vs. high-level social cognition, and potential covariates that represent competing predictors). Using data from three separate studies (total N = 2,376), we tested whether the tendency to take the perspective of others (i.e., perspective-taking), and the tendency to catch the emotions of others (i.e., emotional contagion for positive and negative emotions), were associated with performance on tasks assessing lower- to higher-level social-cognitive ability (i.e., emotion recognition, theory of mind, and empathic accuracy) and affect sharing. Results showed little evidence of an association between any of the self-reported empathy measures and either social-cognitive ability or affect sharing. Using several large samples, our findings add additional evidence to previous work showing that self-report measures of empathy are not valid proxies of behaviorally assessed social cognition. Moreover, we find that the ease with which individuals recognize and understand their own emotions (i.e., alexithymia) is more related to social-cognitive abilities and affect sharing, than their tendency to take the perspective of others, or to vicariously experience the emotions of others. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
... SAD is characterized by a fear of evaluation and avoidance of social situations, which can negatively affect social functioning (American Psychiatric Association, 2013;Clark and Wells, 1995). Indeed, individuals with SAD report having more interpersonal problems and difficulty maintaining relationships (Davila and Beck, 2002;Kashdan et al., 2007;Tonge et al., 2020). These issues extend beyond close relationships and can have a substantial negative impact on occupational and educational functioning (Schneier et al., 1994;Wittchen et al., 2000) above and beyond the effects of comorbidities including depression (Aderka et al., 2012). ...
Background
Social anxiety is highly prevalent and has increased in young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since social anxiety negatively impacts interpersonal functioning, identifying aspects of social cognition that may be impaired can increase our understanding of the development and maintenance of social anxiety disorder. However, to date, studies examining associations between social anxiety and social cognition have resulted in mixed findings.
Methods
The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the literature on the association between social anxiety and social cognition, while also considering several potential moderators and covariates that may influence findings.
Results
A systematic search identified 48 studies. Results showed mixed evidence for the association between social anxiety and lower-level social cognitive processes (emotion recognition and affect sharing) and a trend for a negative association with higher-level social cognitive processes (theory of mind and empathic accuracy). Most studies examining valence-specific effects found a significant negative association for positive and neutral stimuli.
Limitations.
Not all aspects of social cognition were included (e.g., attributional bias) and we focused on adults and not children, limiting the scope of the review.
Conclusions
Future studies would benefit from the inclusion of relevant moderators and covariates, multiple well-validated measures within the same domain of social cognition, and assessments of interpersonal functioning outside of the laboratory. Additional research examining the moderating role of attention or interpretation biases on social cognitive performance, and the potential benefit of social cognitive skills training for social anxiety could inform and improve existing cognitive behavioral interventions.
... On the other hand, negative expressivity generally imposes critical disruptions to interpersonal relatedness by eroding social support and relationship functioning (Halberstadt et al., 1995;Kashdan et al., 2007;Rauer & Volling, 2005). Accordingly, several findings focusing on specific types of emotion suppression provide indirect evidence that the suppression of negative emotions may be better tolerated within the Eastern cultural context, where interdependent values are prominent. ...
Despite a general consensus on the negative consequences of emotion suppression in Western cultures, cross-cultural explorations to date have yielded many inconsistencies on whether such phenomena can be generalized to Eastern cultures. A set of two studies were conducted to examine the role of emotional valence in resolving such inconsistencies on both relationship satisfaction and subjective well-being. In accordance with our hypotheses, our results consistently revealed that the habitual suppression of emotions was associated with lower relationship satisfaction and subjective well-being, regardless of valence, for American participants. However, the effects of emotion suppression significantly varied by valence for Korean participants, such that suppressing negative emotions was less detrimental than suppressing positive emotions. Overall, the present study highlights the importance of considering the nature of different emotions and cultural contexts when examining the adaptiveness of emotion regulation strategies on individuals’ interpersonal and intrapersonal well-being.
... Emotion expression also appears to play a role in feelings of closeness and connectedness within the relationships of those with social anxiety. In one study, researchers observed that, among those low in social anxiety, openly expressing negative emotions fostered feelings of closeness within the relationship (Kashdan, Volkmann, Breen, & Han, 2007). In contrast, among those high in social anxiety, feelings of closeness were intensified only when negative emotions were withheld from one's partner. ...
... The scale barely needs any explanation and is almost free of language, providing no cultural bias and few cognitive requirements (Gächter et al., 2015). Besides, because the scale is sensitive to change (Aron et al., 2003;Kashdan et al., 2007;J. A. Simpson et al., 2003) is not too surprising, as studies have indicated that female gender might be a risk factor for developing PGD (Lobb et al., 2010). ...
Pathological grief has received increasing attention in recent years, as about 10% of the bereaved suffer from one kind of it. Pathological grief in the form of Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is a relatively new diagnostic category which will be included into the up-coming ICD-11. To date, various risk and protective factors, as well as treatment options for pathological grief, have been proposed. Nevertheless, empirical evidence in that area is still scarce. Our aim was to identify the association of interpersonal closeness with the deceased and bereavement outcome.
Interpersonal closeness with the deceased in 54 participants (27 patients suffering from PGD and 27 bereaved healthy controls) was assessed as the overlap of pictured identities via the Inclusion of the Other in the Self Scale (IOS-scale). In addition to that, data on PGD symptomatology, general mental distress, and depression were collected.
Patients suffering from PGD reported higher inclusion of the deceased in the self. By contrast, they reported feeling less close towards another living close person. Results of the IOS-scale were associated with PGD-severity, general mental distress, and depression.
Inclusion of the deceased in the self is a significant statistical predictor for PGD-caseness.
... Although the majority of research on closeness in romantic relationships is based on the assumption that closer relationships are better relationships, emerging research shows that individuals vary in the amount of closeness they want within their relationships (Aron et al., 2004;Fletcher et al., 1999;Goodboy & Booth-Butterfield, 2009;Kashdan et al., 2007;Mashek & Sherman, 2004). Recent research indicates that the role of closeness in determining the quality of romantic relationships is most accurately understood in the form of closeness discrepancies (e.g., Frost & Forrester, 2013;Frost et al., 2017). ...
Closeness is often considered synonymous with better quality romantic relationships. However, individual differences exist in the degree of closeness people desire in their relationships. This study examined the implications that discrepancies between actual and ideal closeness have for relationship quality in romantic couples. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 103 cohabiting couples ( N = 206) in the United States, who were randomly selected from a nationally representative survey panel. Dyadic analysis using actor–partner interdependence models with latent outcomes revealed that internal discrepancies between actual and idealized closeness were associated with poorer relationship quality for both individuals and their partners. These associations persisted above and beyond the effects of actual closeness and dyad-level differences in actual and ideal closeness. The association between closeness and relationship quality may be more individual than dyadic in nature, warranting renewed attention to the idiographic experience of closeness and its association with relational well-being.
... Indeed, there is direct evidence showing that feelings of inauthenticity mediated the link between one's daily use of suppression and both one's own and partner's report of relationship quality (Impett et al., 2012). However, the use of suppression might also have some positive effects on romantic relationships, at least for individuals with certain personality characteristics (Kashdan et al., 2007). Therefore, it might be possible that some positive effects of suppression often undo its detrimental consequences, which might partly explain the absence of its partner effects in our study. ...
Studies investigating the effects of emotion regulation on romantic partners’ relationship satisfaction (RS) found that proneness to use cognitive reappraisal exerts positive, whereas expressive suppression negative effects on both one’s own and partner’s satisfaction. However, no studies explored the effects of partner reported use of the two emotion regulation strategies on RS, which might allow the exclusion of method-related explanations of the previous findings and offer new insights into the mechanisms involved. We tested the hypotheses about the effects of reappraisal and suppression on RS on a sample of 205 romantic couples by using round-robin design and actor-partner interdependence modelling (APIM). Although the effects were relatively small, they were still in line with the assumptions that cognitive reappraisal has positive intra- and interpersonal effects on RS, that they can be generalized across self- and partner reports to a certain extent, and that they are somewhat stronger in women. Considering expressive suppression, only women’s self-reported suppression exerted significant negative intrapersonal effect on RS. Implications of self- and partner reports of emotion regulation for the understanding of the mechanisms mediating its effects on RS are discussed.
... Although most of the pictures classified as momentarily unhappy depict some negative emotion, negative affect does not always impair a relationship and can even promote intimacy [42]. Soft emotions, the tendency to express vulnerability, including pro-social emotions such as sadness or anxiety, are more likely to elicit caring behavior and support from the partner, in contrast to anger for instance [20]. ...
Detecting momentary relationship state and quality in romantic couples is an important endeavor for relationship research, couple therapy, and of course couples themselves. Yet current methods to achieve this are intrusive, asynchronous, plagued by ceiling effects, and only assess subjective responses to questionnaires while trying to capture the objective state of a relationship. According to social appraisal theory, human beings rely on emotional responses to assess interpersonal situations, a key element for relationship functioning in couples. Using couples is particularly advantageous as strong emotional reactions are triggered in romantic relationships. Here, we employ deep learning methods to assess the momentary relationship state of romantic couples from predominantly stock images via facial and bodily emotion expression and other features. Our new model, DeepConnection, comprises pre-trained residual neural networks, spatial pyramid pooling layers, and power mean transformations to extract relevant features from images for binary classification. With this, we achieved an average accuracy of nearly 97% on a separate validation dataset. We also engaged in model interpretation using Gradient-weighted Class Activation Mapping (Grad-CAM) to identify which features allow DeepConnection to detect binarized momentary relationship state. To demonstrate generalizability and robustness, we used DeepConnection to analyze videos of couples exhibiting a range of different postures and facial expressions. Here, we achieved an average accuracy of about 85% with a trained DeepConnection model. The work presented here could inform couples, advance relationship research, and find application in couple therapy to assist the therapist.
... This enabled the calculation of closeness discrepancy scores by subtracting the current level of IOS from the desired level for each participant. Closeness discrepancies have been incorporated into research before (e.g., Frost & Forrester, 2013;Kashdan, Volkmann, Breen, & Han, 2007), but Frost et al. (2017) were the first to incorporate sexual closeness discrepancies. In summary, the IOS scale proved very flexible, easy to administer and highly adaptable to a variety of research objectives. ...
To better understand the effect relationship closeness has on couple’s sexuality a scoping review was conducted, that focused on the inclusion of other in the self scale (IOS). Authors reviewed quantitative journal articles published between 2000 and 2020 by searching PsychInfo, Medline, and PubMed, resulting in 24 studies. Results suggest positive associations between IOS and sexual well-being, functioning, desire, frequency and satisfaction, and negatively related to sexual distress. Also, the benefits of positive sexual experiences expand well beyond the sexual domain onto different personal and relational factors of health and well-being. Sampling designs considerably limit the generalizability of results.
... What do the social networks of highly psychologically flexible people look like and how do they differ from the average person? We are beginning to learn more about the interpersonal consequences of psychological phenomena that explicitly involve other people, such as social anxiety (e.g., Kashdan, Volkmann, Breen, & Han, 2007;Stevens & Morris, 2007;Van Zalk, Van Zalk, Kerr, & Stattin, 2011), but more work must be done to understand the social implications of psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility can build off and extend new models in affective science that detail how and why emotion regulation is an interpersonal process that must be studied accordingly (Zaki & Williams, 2013). ...
Psychological flexibility is the tendency to respond to situations in ways that facilitate valued goal pursuit. Psychological flexibility is particularly useful when challenges arise during goal pursuit that produce distress. In acceptance and commitment therapy, psychological flexibility is considered the pinnacle of emotional health and well-being. A growing body of research demonstrates that psychological flexibility leads to psychological benefits and adaptive behavior change. Yet, much of what we know, or think we know, about psychological flexibility hinges on a single measurement approach using the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ and AAQ-II). Research suggests the AAQ-II is highly correlated with distress itself rather than flexible responses to distress. Existing approaches that assess psychological flexibility ignore the context in which flexibility matters most: the pursuit of valued goals. Below, we review theory and research on psychological flexibility, including its associations with healthy functioning, its measurement, and its overlap with related constructs. We discuss how gaps between theory and measurement impede our understanding and review promising evidence for a new measure of psychological flexibility. We provide new research directions in an effort to create a more generalizable foundation of knowledge. Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2020;e12566. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/spc3
... Este proceso sería equivalente al concepto de "fusión cognitiva", ampliamente descrito en la literatura (p.ej., Wilson & Luciano, 2002). Por ejemplo, se ha observado que la dificultad para expresarse y realizar autorrevelaciones en personas con elevada ansiedad social podría deberse a la presencia de fusión cognitiva (lo contrario de aceptación psicológica) con sus propias emociones y pensamientos en el contexto de la interacción (Kashdan, Volkmann, Breen & Han, 2007). ...
Intimate relationships matter for both human's physical and psychological health. Although many theories have been developed to study this topic, there is no consensus about the underlying processes in human relationships. The Interpersonal Process Model, which has well-established empirical support, aims to address the development of intimate relationships describing them as observed behaviors. This has important implications in psychotherapy, especially for those approaches that understand the interpersonal patient-therapist relationship as a tool for change. That is the case of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy. In this paper we articulate a model of intimate relationships based on Interpersonal Process Model and the principles of Functional Behavioral Analysis, connecting it with previous results on the field of intimate relationships. Likewise, a discussion about its implications in psychotherapy and its utility to solve some Functional Analytic Psychotherapy's limitations is presented.
... An important consideration concerns the extent to which this behavior is adaptive for socially anxious individuals, as Kashdan, Volkmann, Breen, and Han (2007) demonstrated that, for individuals with higher levels of social anxiety, relationship closeness improved over a 12-week period for those participants who actively withheld the expression of negative emotions. Given the frequency of perceived intimate partner rejection among socially anxious individuals, reacting by expressing negative affect may create further discord. ...
Individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) demonstrate impaired functioning in intimate relationships, yet little is known about how socially anxious individuals respond to perceived intimate partner rejection. In the present study, individuals with SAD (n = 30) and healthy controls (HCs; n = 33) who were involved in current intimate relationships completed daily diaries each evening for 14 days. Daily diaries assessed the extent to which participants experienced feelings of rejection in their intimate relationships, as well as the extent to which they responded to feelings of rejection by using behaviors characterized by withdrawal (“withdrawal” processes) versus efforts to reaffiliate with their partners (“approach” processes). Results revealed that overall, individuals with SAD exhibited greater use of withdrawal-focused processes, whereas HC participants exhibited greater use of approach-focused processes. However, on days following intimate partner rejection, only individuals with SAD restricted their use of withdrawal-focused processes. These findings provide insight into the nature of rejection concerns and responses to rejection among individuals with SAD as compared with HC participants.
... Sosyal anksiyete bozukluğuyla ilgili alan yazında sosyal anksiyetenin başa çıkma becerileri, akademik başarı, benlik saygısı, depresyon, ebeveyn tutumları, akran ilişkileri, romantik ilişkiler, beden imajı, mükemmeliyetçilik gibi birçok farklı değişkenle ilişkisinin incelendiği araştırmalar mevcuttur. 8,[25][26][27][28][29][30] Bu araştırmada ise; sosyal anksiyete bozukluğunun benlik saygısı, anne-baba tutumları ve mükemmeliyetçilik özelliği ile ilişkisi birlikte incelenerek sosyal anksiyete bozukluğunun kaynağını anlamaya yönelik araştırmalara katkı sağlaması beklenmektedir. Bu kapsamda araştırmanın amacı sosyal anksiyete bozukluğu ile benlik saygısı, anne-baba tutumları ve mükemmeliyetçilik arasındaki ilişkiyi ve bu bağımsız değişkenlerin sosyal anksiyeteyi nasıl açıkladığını tespit etmektir. ...
Objectives:The present study was conducted to examine the relationship between social anxiety levels and self-esteem, perceived parental attitudes and perfectionism traits in secondary school students.Materials and Methods:In this study, 970 students (503 females and 467 males) were recruited from secondary schools in Trabzon in the 2016-2017 academic year. The Social Anxiety scale for Children Updated Form, Two Dimensional Self- Esteem scale (Self-Liking/Self Competence scale, Parental Attitude scale, Adaptive-Maladaptive Perfectionism scale were administered to the participants.Results:It was found that there was a significant negative correlation between social anxiety levels and self-esteem of the students. Social anxiety had a significant negative correlation with over-involvement and authoritative parental attitudes; however, there was not a significant relationship between democratic parental attitude and social anxiety. While the findings indicated that there was a significant positive correlation between the students’ social anxiety levels and negative perfectionist traits, there was not a significant correlation between positive perfectionism and social anxiety. It was confirmed that self-liking and self-competence, which are two dimensions of self-esteem, authoritative and over-involvement parental attitudes, and negative perfectionism significantly predicted social anxiety.Conclusion:Social anxiety which individuals have during adolescence period can be described as a psychological term associated with their self-assessment manner, some of their parents’ parental attitudes, and their perception about making everything the best.
... In fact, people high in social anxiety tend to evade their emotions in order to avoid the potential to be rejected or ridiculed by others, and oft en recall failed social interactions more strongly, mainly because they are hyperaware of past hurtful interactions (Clark, 2005). That is, highly anxious people are often worried about and aim to avoid rejection even while wanting to have closeness with others (Kashdan, Volkmann, Breen, & Han, 2007). Given that avoidance goals are associated with anxiety, we explored whether people's feelings of anxiety on Tinder accounted for the association between avoidance goals while using Tinder and dating success on Tinder. ...
Tinder, the mobile dating app, is widely used for meeting potential dating partners, but little research has investigated the dating experiences of users. In two studies, we applied the approach-avoidance theory of social motivation to understand the association between people’s goals for Tinder use and their perceived and actual dating success. In Study 1 we found that higher approach goals for using Tinder, such as to develop intimate relationships, were associated with more positive beliefs about people on Tinder, and in turn, associated with reporting greater perceived dating success, initiating more conversations on Tinder, and going on more second dates with people from Tinder. In contrast, people who had higher avoidance goals when using Tinder, such as aiming to avoid embarrassment, reported feeling more anxious when using Tinder and in turn, perceived less dating success and reported fewer second dates. In Study 2—a preregistered replication of Study 1—we largely replicated the effects from Study 1. Additional analyses in both studies revealed that the results were not accounted for by attractiveness of the user and were consistent between men and women, but differed based on the age of the user. The associations between approach goals and dating success were stronger for younger, compared to older users and the association between avoidance goals and dating success were stronger for older, compared to younger, users. The findings have implications for understanding the role of motivation in dating success on Tinder and reveal novel mechanisms for the associations between dating goals and dating success.
... "Anne-Baba Eğitim Düzeyinin İlköğretim 1.Sınıf Öğrencilerinin Duyguları İfade Etme Becerilerine Etkisinin İncelenmesi", Eğitim Orhan Akova, Gürel Çetin, Fazıl Kaya; Lisans ve Önlisans Turizm Öğrencileri Üzerine Bir Araştırma73Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 2(1) 2014ve Öğretim Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2(2), pp. 254-262.Kashdan, T.B., Volkmann, J.R.,Breen, W. and Han, S., (2007). "Social anxiety andRomantic Relationships: The Costs and Benefits of Negative Emotion Expression are Context-Dependent", Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 21, pp. ...
The tourism sector is affected directly or indirectly by the presence of museums. As a center of attraction, the museums play an important role to attract people to the destination. The visits of museums in the tourism sector are affected by a wide range of factor and the most important factor is the using of museum card. Since 2008 when museum cards started being used, according to statistics, museum visits have been affected positively. The purpose of this study is to reveal importance of using museum card. For this purpose, the statistics of visits to museum and using of museum card is given in this study. According to this study, it has been seen that visits with museumcard increased by 49% between the years of 2011-2012.
Key Words: Museum, museums of Çanakkale, museum card.
... Although results of Study 1 suggest that the hypothesized context-sensitive emotional responses are shown most clearly by individuals in the midrange of S-NA inertia, our studies do not offer direct evidence that stronger emotional reactivity to interpersonal situations of adaptive importance contribute to perceptions of responsiveness from one's partner. Prior research has reported a link between expression of negative emotions and relationship closeness (Kashdan, Volkmann, Breen, & Han, 2007), and between negative affective reactions in conflict situations and stable levels of relationship satisfaction, but those findings were based upon couples facing severe relationship problems (McNulty & Russell, 2010). Clear negative affective reactions can be understood as alert signals in situations involving threat to the self or the relationship (Fischer & Manstead, 2016) and may be adaptive to the extent that they communicate and raise awareness of the threat to couples and encourage relationship partners to deal with the issues at stake. ...
Responding appropriately to an intimate partner’s emotional signals and needs requires that one’s emotional responses be reactive to significant interpersonal experiences. The adaptive function of emotions is likely compromised if an individual’s emotional states are insufficiently attuned to interpersonal events. The present studies examine how individual differences in moment-to-moment emotion dynamics affect interpersonal responsiveness and relationship satisfaction. Study 1 examines associations between emotion dynamics and emotional reactivity to positive and negative relationship events. Emotion dynamics were operationalized using assessments of emotional inertia, which is defined as the degree to which emotions are resistant to change over time. Momentary assessments from 44 participants were collected four times per day over 4 weeks. Emotional inertia showed a curvilinear association with context-sensitive emotional responses to conflict, with individuals high or low in emotional inertia experiencing blunted emotional reactions to conflict. Study 2 assessed emotion dynamics based on four emotion reports per day over 10 days of both partners in a total of 103 couples. Associations of emotion dynamics with perceptions of partners’ responsiveness and relationship satisfaction over 12 months were examined. Partners of individuals with high (inert) or low (erratic) emotional inertia perceived them to be less responsive, which then predicted steeper declines in their relationship satisfaction across 12 months. The results suggest that individuals with inert or erratic emotion dynamics exhibit less context-sensitive emotional responding to conflicts and are perceived by their partners to be less responsive which subsequently undermines the quality of their intimate relationships.
Expressive suppression, which involves hiding emotions, is a common emotion regulation behavior in relationships, but interferes with perceived responsiveness and closeness. These relationship costs make it important to identify the contexts in which the use and harmful correlates of expressive suppression are more likely to occur. Building from theory positing that different contexts entail different risks of rejection, we investigated whether expressive suppression was (1) more intense and (2) associated with worse relational outcomes in high-risk than low-risk relationship interaction contexts. In two studies (conducted in 2016-2017 and 2022), Belgian couples engaged in separate discussions about each other’s most annoying characteristics (high-risk context) and valuable characteristics (low-risk context). For each discussion, each couple member reported how much they had suppressed their emotions, felt their partner was responsive towards them, and felt close to their partner. In Study 1 (n = 101 couples), expressive suppression was assessed for emotions in general. In Study 2 (n = 130 couples), expressive suppression was assessed for negative and positive emotions separately. In both studies, participants reported suppressing emotions more intensely in high-risk than in low-risk contexts. Actors’ (and sometimes partners’) expressive suppression was also associated with lower perceived responsiveness and closeness. However, results regarding whether suppression was associated with worse relational outcomes in the high-risk versus low-risk context were inconsistent, depending on the specificity of emotions assessed with the suppression measure (general, negative, or positive) and the relational outcome. The findings suggest that expressive suppression might be harmful regardless of the risk of relationship interactions.
This study aims to explore the level of attachment anxiety, marital adjustment, pyscho-social support of love and arranged marriages among Meranao women specifically, it sought to answer the following questions: 1.What is the demographic profile of the respondents in love marriage and arranged marriages in terms of present age, age at the time of marriage, family monthly income, number of children and sibling rank? 2. What is the level of attachment related anxiety, the marital adjustment of the respondents in love and arranged marriages among the following aspects psychological, social, emotional and spiritual? 3. What are the marital adjustment of the respondents in love and arranged marriages when classified as social, physical, financial and spiritual? 4. What is the level of marital quality of the respondents in love and arranged marriages on the following aspects; commitment, trust and mutual interaction? 5. What are the forms of marital support of the respondents in love and arrange marriages receive in terms of psychological, confidant, affective and social support? 6. How do love marriages differ from arranged marriages along the following along the following aspects; level of attachment anxiety, marital adjustment, level of marital quality and marital support? 7. What marriage counseling program has been developed on the basis of the findings of the study. This study was conducted at Tuca, Pindolonan and Dawayan, Marawi City with the total number of 327 married Meranao women, with a breakdown of 132 for love marriage and 195 for arranged marriage. The researcher utilized the descriptive–correlation design. Part of study was done through describing the demographic profile of the respondents and personal profile in terms of age, gender, socio economic status, educational attainment, monthly income and occupation. Their perceptions on their marriage particularly on attachment anxiety, marital adjustment, marital quality and marital support were also given descriptions. On the other hand, these two important variables were then correlated so as to establish a conclusion that a wife’s profile can affect her perception on her marriage life.
Background and Objectives: Adolescent girls faced with affective breakdown have an urgent need to overcome their problems. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of imago therapy package for affective breakdown and cognitive-behavioral therapy on anxiety and negative affects among adolescent girl. Materials and Methods: This research was a semi-experimental study with a pretest, posttest and follow-up design with a control group. The statistical population was adolescent girl who faced affective breakdown in the winter of 2022 in Isfahan, Iran. From them, 48 preschool adolescent girl were selected by purposive sampling method and randomly assigned in two experimental groups and a control group (16 adolescent girl for each group). Spitzer’s et al anxiety questionnaire (2006) and Watson & Clark’s negative affect scale (1992) was used to assess dependent variables in three stages. Two treatment groups were treated in 10 sessions of 90 minutes each, and the control group did not receive any treatment. The data were analyzed by analysis of covariance and post-hoc Bonferroni test by SPSS version 26 Findings: The results showed that there was a significant difference between imago therapy package for affective breakdown and cognitive-behavioral therapy in anxiety and negative affect with the control group (p<0.01), but there was no significant difference between the effectiveness of two treatment groups (p>0.05). Conclusions: Considering the effectiveness of imago therapy for affective breakdown and cognitive-behavioral therapy on reducing anxiety and negative affect, it is suggested that these two treatments be used for girls who face affective breakdown in psychological treatment centers for adolescents.
Social anxiety (SA) is characterized by anxious symptomology and fear during social situations, but recent work suggests that SA may not necessarily be associated with negative interpersonal and intrapersonal outcomes in support contexts. The current research investigates the discrepancies between self-perceptions, behavior, and physiological responses associated with SA in social support conversations with close friends. Specifically, we examined the associations between SA and positive and negative affect, perceptions of demands and resources, and responsiveness. Additionally, we used the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat to understand the physiological responses associated with SA. Participants (79.9% White, 9.8% Black or African American, 10.3% Multiple races or other; 78.7% Female), totaling 172 undergraduate friend dyads, completed self-report measures and had physiological responses recorded while they discussed a problem unrelated to the friendship. Trained coders rated responsive behaviors exhibited during the conversation. Results revealed that greater SA was associated with greater negative perceptions of social interactions (greater negative affect, fewer perceived resources, and greater perceived demands). However, cardiovascular reactivity and behavioral responses within the conversation, as well as perceptions of partners' behavior after the conversation, contrasted with these negative perceptions. Indeed, greater SA was associated with greater sympathetic arousal (indicative of greater task engagement), but not with greater challenge or threat, and SA was not associated with perceived partner responsiveness or responsive behaviors. These results add to the growing body of research that suggests people with greater SA show inconsistencies between their conscious appraisals of social situations and their physiological responses.
Abstrak : Harga diri dan kecemasan sosial menjadi faktor yang mempengaruhi perilaku ghosting. Individu dengan harga diri rendah cenderung akan mengakhiri hubungan karena penghindaraan dan tidak terpenuhinya kebutuhan keterikatan. Sementara individu dengan kecemasan sosial tinggi tidak dapat mempertahankan hubungan karena individu cenderung tidak dapat menerima evaluasi dari orang lain. Hal tersebut menyebabkan berakhirnya hubungan yang mengarah kepada perilaku ghosting. Perilaku ghosting umumnya terjadi pada pengguna aplikasi kencan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji peran harga diri dan kecemasan sosial terhadap perilaku ghosting pengguna aplikasi kencan. Partisipan penelitian sebanyak 203 emerging adults (18-25 tahun), melakukan ghosting 6 bulan sebelum penelitian dilakukan, pengguna aplikasi kencan. Metode penelitian yaitu kuantitatif korelasional. Berdasarkan hasil analisa pada uji korelasi variabel harga diri dan perilaku ghosting menghasilkan r(203)= -0.356, p= 0.000 < 0.05 artinya terdapat hubungan negatif. Namun pada variabel kecemasan sosial terhadap perilaku ghosting menghasilkan r(203)= 0.068, p= 0.334 > 0.05 artinya tidak terdapat korelasi yang signifikan. Uji regresi berganda dilakukan untuk melihat peran harga diri dan kecemasan sosial terhadap perilaku ghosting, menghasilkan p= 0.286, R= 0.363, R 2 = 0.132. Hasil menunjukan bahwa harga diri dan kecemasan sosial berperan sebesar 13.2%. Implikasi penelitian untuk membuat kesadaran atas perilaku ghosting sehingga dapat mencegah. Kata Kunci: Perilaku ghosting, harga diri, kecemasan sosial, aplikasi kencan Abstract : Increasing self-esteem and social anxiety are factors influencing ghosting behavior. Individuals with low self-esteem tend to end relationship due to avoidance and unfulfilled attachment needs. Meanwhile, individuals with high social anxiety cannot sustain relationship because they tend to struggle with accepting evaluation from other. This leads to the termination of relationships that culminate in ghosting behavior. Ghosting behavior is commonly observed among user of dating app. This study aims to examine the roles of self-esteem and social anxiety in the ghosting behavior of dating app users. The participants in the study were 203 emerging adults (18 – 25 years old) who had engaged in ghosting 6 month prior to the study and were users of dating apps. The research method employed was quantitative correlational analysis. The analysis of the correlation between self-esteem and ghosting behavior yielded r(203)= -0.356, p= 0.000 < 0.05, indicating a negative. However, the correlation between social anxiety and ghosting behavior resulted in r(203)= 0.068, p = 0.334 > 0.05, suggesting no significant correlation. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to explore the roles of self-esteem and social anxiety in ghosting behavior, yielding p= 0.286, R = 0.363, R 2 = 0.132. The findings indicate that self-esteem and social anxiety collectively account for 13.2% of variance in ghosting behavior. The remaining 86.8% is influenced by factors beyond the predictor variables. The implication of this research including raising awareness of ghosting behavior to facilitating preventive measures. Key word: ghosting behavior, self-esteem, social anxiety, dating app
It is theoretically plausible that social anxiety (SA) and social relationships (SR) can influence each other. However, the available empirical evidence is inconsistent, leading to substantial uncertainty regarding the cross-lagged relations between SA and SR. This meta-analysis systematically integrates data from 107 longitudinal studies, comprising 110 independent samples and involving a total of 115,133 participants from childhood to adulthood. Four types of SR were assessed: family-related, school-related, romantic, and general relationships. One-stage meta-analytic structural equation modeling was applied to fit four cross-lagged panel models and to test potential moderators. No significant publication bias was detected. Effect size analyses revealed that prior SA significantly and negatively predicted quality of all types of SR. Family-related and general relationships each predicted prospective SA symptoms, but school-related and romantic relationships did not. No moderators were identified in analyses of family-related and romantic relationships. However, the publication year, sample age, gender, reporter, and time lag played a moderating role in analyses of school-related and general relationships. These findings suggest that SA is a crucial factor undermining SR and that dysfunctional family and general relationships also contribute to the exacerbation of SA symptoms. The strengths, limitations, and future directions of this study are discussed.
Unlabelled:
The emotional experiences you have with a romantic partner shape how satisfied you are in your relationship. Engaging in attempts to make a romantic partner feel better is linked with better relationship outcomes. However, it is not yet clear which specific processes people use to regulate their partners' emotions, nor which processes are most strongly linked with relationship satisfaction. In the current study of 277 individuals (55% female), we tested the extent to which eight extrinsic emotion regulation processes (expressive suppression, downward social comparison, humor, distraction, direct action, reappraisal, receptive listening, and valuing) predict relationship satisfaction. Six of the eight processes showed significant positive correlations with relationship satisfaction, with the strongest associations for valuing (r = .43), humor (r = .33), and receptive listening (r = .27). Relative weights were significant only for valuing, humor, and receptive listening, suggesting that these are the most important predictors of relationship satisfaction. Results are discussed in terms of the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic regulation processes and the potential importance of motives for regulation.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-023-04432-4.
Purpose: The purpose of this research is to study of the relationship between the social appearance anxiety levels and conscious awareness levels of the students studying at the university in terms of sports and different variables. The study was carried out on a total of 1000 individuals, 503 female and 497 male students studying at Atatürk University in 2018 – 2019 academic year. Method: İn this study , the scale of social appearance anxiety, a self report scale developed Hart and his friend(2008) was used to measure the emotional , cognitive and behavioral anxiety experienced by the individual. Used by Tayfun Doğan (2010).And the conscious awareness scale developed by Brown and Ryan(2003) was used to measure the level of awareness. For data analiysis, the data were transferred to the computer via the SPSS package program. Used by Zümra Özyeşil (2011). Frequency distiribution in the determination of propertion in data analysis, T test to examine the relationship between the two independent variables and the level of awareness of concscious with social appearance, Anova Waryans ana1ysis tests were used to examine the relationship between social appearance anxiety levels and conscious awareness levels with more than two variable. The difference between the variables was interpreted on the basis of P.0.05 significance level. Findings: According to findings, it was found that the students’ social anxiety levels were significantly different depending on the variables such as gender, age, personal monthly income, type of sports activity and the duration of performing weekly sport achvities. The level of conscious awareness was also found to be significantly different depending on variables such as the duration of weekly sporting activity and the aim of making sportive activitiess. A significant relationship was found between students’social appearance anxiety levels and conscious awareness levels. Result : In order to reduce the negative effects of social appearance anxiety in our daily lives, training based on conscious awareness can be extended. Key Words: Social Appearance Anxiety, Conscious Awareness, Sportive Activity, University Students
Background:
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is associated with pervasive functional impairments and chronicity. Romantic relationship functioning and quality for individuals with SAD has been previously explored but existing studies have not been synthesised.
Aims:
This scoping review charted existing literature regarding the quality and functioning of romantic relationships for people with SAD and high sub-clinical social anxiety (SA).
Methods:
The review used a scoping approach to explore the current evidence base relating to SA, romantic relationship quality and functioning. Articles published in English after 1980 that reported either clinical or high sub-clinical SA were eligible. Double screening, data extraction, quality assessment, and thematic analysis of studies was conducted.
Results:
50 studies from 46 articles were identified, involving a range of community, college, adolescent, and clinical samples. Thematic analysis identified four themes; Relationship Quality, Satisfaction and Commitment; Communication and Self-Disclosure; Conflict, Social Support and Trust; Intimacy, Closeness and Sexual Satisfaction.
Conclusions:
The review highlights that evidence relating to romantic relationship functioning for individuals with SAD and high sub-clinical SA is heterogeneous, with relationship initiation in particular relatively under-explored. Further research is required to elucidate key constructs and interpersonal processes related to relationship functioning, and to inform treatment approaches with this group.
Thesis is a graduation requirement for students, of course it will cause some students to feel anxious at the moment working on. The anxiety could arise because of some things that are considered threatened. Besides anxiety can also arise due to low confidence in the ability of self or self-efficacy. This study was conducted to examine the correlation between self-efficacy with the anxiety of students who are working on the thesis. The scale used in this study is the scale of self-efficacy and anxiety scales. The subjects used in this research were 161 students from the Universitas Ibrahimy who was working on a thesis. The results showed a negative relationship between self-efficacy with anxiety in students who are working on the thesis with the calculated product moment correlation (r = -0.606, p = 0.000, p <0.01).
Objectives: Our main hypothesis in this study was that patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had lower empathy levels than those without ADHD. Also, after controlling for the severity of SAD and depression, we hypothesized that ADHD symptoms contributed to lower levels of empathy in SAD patients.
Methods: 72 patients (46 females, 32 males) with SAD between the ages of 18–65 years were divided into two groups as those with (n = 32) and those without ADHD (n = 40). Participants were evaluated using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), Turgay’s Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Empathy Quotient. In this study, Mann Whitney-U test, Spearman correlation test, logistic and multiple regression analysis were used.
Results: Education level (U = 371.5, p = .002) and empathy scores (U = 259.5, p < .0001) of SAD patients with ADHD were significantly lower than those without ADHD. BDI (U = 206.5, p < .0001), LSAS total (U = 454.5, p = .036), fear (U = 457.0, p = .038), and avoidance scores (U = 453.0, p = .034) were higher in SAD patients with ADHD than those without ADHD. Low levels of empathy (B = - 0.119, Exp(B) = 0.895, p = .014) and high severity of current depression (B = 0.119, Exp(B) = 1.127, p = .001) were significantly associated with comorbidity between SAD and ADHD. ADHD-inattention (β = −0.369, Exp(B) = −0.541, p = .004), and depression (β = −0.262, Exp(B) = −0.212, p = .036) negatively predicted empathy levels.
Conclusions: Our findings may provide some evidence for the contribution of ADHD-inattention and depression to poor empathy in SAD patients. Therefore, it is recommended that symptoms of ADHD-inattention and depression should be carefully evaluated in SAD patients with low empathy.
Introduction: Social anxiety contributes to a variety of interpersonal difficulties and dysfunctions. Socially anxious adults are less likely to marry and more likely to divorce than are non-anxious adults. The present pre-registered study investigated incremental variance accounted for by social anxiety in relationship satisfaction, commitment, trust, and social support. Methods: Three independent samples of adults (N = 888; 53.7% female; M age = 35.09 years) involved in a romantic relationship completed online self-report questionnaires. Both social anxiety and depression were significantly correlated with relationship satisfaction, commitment, dyadic trust, and social support. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted with each sample to investigate the incremental variance accounted for by each of social anxiety and depression in relationship satisfaction, commitment, dyadic trust, and social support. Subsequent meta-analyses were run to determine the strength and replicability of the hierarchical models. Results: Results suggest that social anxiety is a robust predictor of unique variance in both perceived social support and commitment. Depression was a robust predictor of unique variance in relationship satisfaction, dyadic trust, social support, and commitment. Discussion: These results help to further understanding of social anxiety in romantic relationships and provide direction for future research and clinical intervention.
Intimate relationships matter to health and happiness. However, the vast scope of relationship research and the abundance of precise micro-theories has presented obstacles to the development of integrative theories with contextual-behavioral foundations that are oriented towards application of findings in domains of public health significance. Derived from the well-validated Interpersonal Process Model, which described intimacy as a dyadic exchange in which Person A engages in a vulnerable self-disclosure, Person B enacts a response, and Person A perceives the response as responsive, we present an integrative, analytic-abstractive, contextual-behavioral model of intimate relations. The model describes the intimacy process as a set of functional relations describing behaviors and responses of Persons A and B in context, languaged as middle-level terms to facilitate cross-disciplinary applications. Three primary relations of the model are non-verbal emotional expression (Person A) and safety (Person B), verbal self-disclosure (Person A) and validation (Person B), and asking (Person A) and giving (Person B). The model also emphasizes the importance of self- and other-awareness, expressions of closeness, and reciprocity as additional terms. Future research directions and potential applications are discussed.
People with social anxiety disorder (SAD) frequently report interpersonal problems across various domains; however, it is unclear whether these problems are observable by others or represent negatively biased self-report. We assessed the interpersonal problems of people with and without SAD using self-report, friend, and romantic partner report. We hypothesized that SAD diagnosis would predict self-reported problems across multiple interpersonal domains, but restricted domains of informant report. Additionally, we hypothesized that diagnosis would predict discrepancy between self and informant report either in the form of a bias toward reporting more problems or in the form of lack of concordance between self and informant reporters. Using structural equation and multilevel models, we found evidence for differences between people with and without SAD in terms of domains of impairment observed by self and informants as well as differences in correspondence across relationship types. Results highlight the utility of multi-informant assessment of SAD.
Despite their apparent implications for social functioning, adult attachment styles have never been specifically explored among persons with social anxiety disorder. In the current study, a cluster analysis of the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (N. L. Collins, 1996) revealed that 118 patients with social anxiety were best represented by anxious and secure attachment style clusters. Members of the anxious attachment cluster exhibited more severe social anxiety and avoidance, greater depression, greater impairment, and lower life satisfaction than members of the secure attachment cluster. This pattern was replicated in a separate sample of 56 patients and compared with the pattern found in 36 control participants. Social anxiety mediated the association between attachment insecurity and depression. Findings are discussed in the context of their relevance to the etiology, maintenance, and cognitive–behavioral treatment of social anxiety disorder.
People high in rejection sensitivity (RS) anxiously expect rejection and are at risk for interpersonal and personal distress. Two studies examined the role of self-regulation through strategic attention deployment in moderating the link between RS and maladaptive outcomes. Self-regulation was assessed by the delay of gratification (DG) paradigm in childhood. In Study 1, preschoolers from the Stanford University community who participated in the DG paradigm were assessed 20 years later. Study 2 assessed low-income, minority middle school children on comparable measures. DG ability buffered high-RS people from interpersonal difficulties (aggression, peer rejection) and diminished well-being (e.g., low self-worth, higher drug use). The protective effect of DG ability on high-RS children's self-worth is explained by reduced interpersonal problems. Attentional mechanisms underlying the interaction between RS and strategic self-regulation are discussed.
Cross-sectional analyses of data collected from a large sample of incoming college freshmen were used to determine (a) whether the perceived availability of social support protects persons from stress-induced depressive affect; (b) whether social competence, social anxiety, and self-disclosure are responsible for the stress-protective effect of perceived social support; and (c) 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.
Social exclusion was manipulated by telling people that they would end up alone later in life or that other participants had rejected them. These manipulations caused participants to behave more aggressively. Excluded people issued a more negative job evaluation against someone who insulted them (Experiments 1 and 2). Excluded people also blasted a target with higher levels of aversive noise both when the target had insulted them (Experiment 4) and when the target was a neutral person and no interaction had occurred (Experiment 5). However, excluded people were not more aggressive toward someone who issued praise (Experiment 3). These responses were specific to social exclusion (as opposed to other misfortunes) and were not mediated by emotion.
Our model outlines the cognitive operations, response strategies, and dynamics of the attachment system in adulthood. It also describes the goals of each attachment strategy and their psychological manifestations and consequences. Whereas the goals of security-based strategies are to form intimate relationships, to build a person's psychological resources, and to broaden his or her perspectives and capacities, the goal of secondary attachment strategies is to manage attachment-system activation and reduce or eliminate the pain caused by frustrated proximity-seeking attempts. Hyperactivating strategies keep the person focused on the search for love and security, and constantly on the alert for threats, separations, and betrayals. Deactivating strategies keep the attachment system in check, with serious consequences for cognitive and emotional openness. This framework serves as our "working model" for understanding the activation and functioning of the attachment system in adulthood. It also provides a framework for reviewing our research findings, which is the mission of the next section.
The present study was designed to test the assumption that gender differences in emotion expression are based on differences in the motives held by men and women in social interactions. Three hundred and fourteen students participated in this study by completing a questionnaire. Each questionnaire contained two vignettes that varied with respect to type of emotion (anger, disappointment, fear or sadness), sex of target, and object-target relationship. Dependent variables included measures of emotion expression and of motives for regulating one's emotions. The results support the general hypothesis that women are more concerned with relationships and less reluctant to express powerless emotions, whereas men are more motivated to stay in control and tend to express emotions that reflect their power.
We propose that to some extent, people treat the resources, perspectives, and identities of close others as their own. This proposal is supported by allocation, attribution, response time, and memory experiments. Recently, we have applied this idea to deepening understanding of feeling “too close” (including too much of the other in the self leading to feeling controlled or a loss of identity), the effects of relationship loss (it is distressing to the extent that the former partner was included in the self, liberating to the extent that the former partner was preventing self-expansion), ingroup identification (including ingroup in the self), and the effect of outgroup friendships on outgroup attitudes (including outgroup member in the self entails including outgroup member's identity in the self).
This study investigated 3 broad classes of individual-differences variables (job-search motives, competencies, and constraints) as predictors of job-search intensity among 292 unemployed job seekers. Also assessed was the relationship between job-search intensity and reemployment success in a longitudinal context. Results show significant relationships between the predictors employment commitment, financial hardship, job-search self-efficacy, and motivation control and the outcome job-search intensity. Support was not found for a relationship between perceived job-search constraints and job-search intensity. Motivation control was highlighted as the only lagged predictor of job-search intensity over time for those who were continuously unemployed. Job-search intensity predicted Time 2 reemployment status for the sample as a whole, but not reemployment quality for those who found jobs over the study's duration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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 recipient's 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 recipient's 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 person's sadness although this effect reached statistical significance only in the second study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Syndromal classification is a well-developed diagnostic system but has failed to deliver on its promise of the identification of functional pathological processes. Functional analysis is tightly connected to treatment but has failed to develop testable, replicable classification systems. Functional diagnostic dimensions are suggested as a way to develop the functional classification approach, and experiential avoidance is described as 1 such dimension. A wide range of research is reviewed showing that many forms of psychopathology can be conceptualized as unhealthy efforts to escape and avoid emotions, thoughts, memories, and other private experiences. It is argued that experiential avoidance, as a functional diagnostic dimension, has the potential to integrate the efforts and findings of researchers from a wide variety of theoretical paradigms, research interests, and clinical domains and to lead to testable new approaches to the analysis and treatment of behavioral disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In 2 studies, the Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) Scale, a single-item, pictorial measure of closeness, demonstrated alternate-form and test–retest reliability; convergent validity with the Relationship Closeness Inventory (E. Berscheid et al, 1989), the R. J. Sternberg (1988) Intimacy Scale, and other measures; discriminant validity; minimal social desirability correlations; and predictive validity for whether romantic relationships were intact 3 mo later. Also identified and cross-validated were (1) a 2-factor closeness model (Feeling Close and Behaving Close) and (2) longevity–closeness correlations that were small for women vs moderately positive for men. Five supplementary studies showed convergent and construct validity with marital satisfaction and commitment and with a reaction-time (RT)-based cognitive measure of closeness in married couples; and with intimacy and attraction measures in stranger dyads following laboratory closeness-generating tasks. In 3 final studies most Ss interpreted IOS Scale diagrams as depicting interconnectedness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The paradox of distress expression is that expression of negative feelings is both a sign of distress and a possible means of coping with that distress. This article describes research illustrating the paradox of distress expression. It reviews evidence concerning 3 possible mechanisms by which expression might alleviate distress, focusing on the role of expression in (a) reducing distress about distress, (b) facilitating insight, and (c) affecting interpersonal relationships in a desired way. The authors conclude by highlighting the circumstances under which expression is most likely to be adaptive. Overall, the authors argue that expression of negative feelings is adaptive to the extent that it leads to some kind of resolution involving the source or significance of distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The psychometric adequacy of the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS; R. P. Mattick & J. C. Clark, 1989), a measure of social interaction anxiety, and the Social Phobia Scale (SPS; R. P. Mattick & J. C. Clark, 1989), a measure of anxiety while being observed by others, was evaluated in anxious patients and normal controls. Social phobia patients scored higher on both scales and were more likely to be identified as having social phobia than other anxious patients (except for agoraphobic patients on the SPS) or controls. Clinician-rated severity of social phobia was moderately related to SIAS and SPS scores. Additional diagnoses of mood or panic disorder did not affect SIAS or SPS scores among social phobia patients, but an additional diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder was associated with SIAS scores. Number of reported feared social interaction situations was more highly correlated with scores on the SIAS, whereas number of reported feared performance situations was more highly correlated with scores on the SPS. These scales appear to be useful in screening, designing individualized treatments, and evaluating the outcomes of treatments for social phobia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The studies of emotion function and emotional disorders complement one another. In this article, the authors outline relations between the social functions of emotion and four psychological disorders. The authors first present a social-functional account of emotion and argue that emotions help coordinate social interactions through their informative, evocative, and incentive functions. They then review evidence concerning the emotional and social problems related to depression, schizophrenia, social anxiety, and borderline personality disorder and consider how the emotional disturbances related to these disorders disrupt interactions and relationships, thus contributing further to the maintenance of the disorder. They conclude by discussing research strategies relevant to the study of emotion, social interaction, and psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Depression is remarkably persistent and recurrent. Why? Although several predictors of depression chronicity have been identified, a conceptual framework regarding mechanisms whereby depression chronicity occurs is lacking. The goal of this article is to explain depression chronicity, at least in part, with reference to processes, mostly interpersonal in nature, that serve to extend and reestablish depression. Several such processes are described, and available empirical evidence regarding each is reviewed. Clinical and research implications of the present conceptualization are elucidated. To the degree that these processes receive continued empirical support as mechanisms whereby depression persists, they represent leverage points to combat the vexing problem of depression chronicity.
Three studies evaluated the reliability and validity of the Investment Model Scale, an instrument designed to measure four constructs, including commitment level and three bases of dependence–satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. In all three studies, reliability analyses revealed good internal consistency among items designed to measure each construct. Also, principal components analyses performed on scale items revealed evidence of four factors, with items designed to measure each construct loading on independent factors. Studies 2 and 3 examined associations of model variables with instruments measuring diverse qualities of relationships and assorted personal dispositions. As anticipated, Investment Model variables were moderately associated with other measures reflecting superior couple functioning (e.g., dyadic adjustment, trust level, inclusion of other in the self), and were essentially unrelated to measures assessing personal dispositions (e.g., need for cognition, self-esteem). In addition, Study 3 demonstrated that earlier measures of Investment Model variables predicted later levels of dyadic adjustment and later relationship status (persisted vs. ended). It is hoped that the existence of a reliable and valid Investment Model Scale will promote further research regarding commitment and interdependence in ongoing close relationships.
Using a randomized wait-list controlled design, this study evaluated the effects of a novel intervention, mindfulness-based relationship enhancement, designed to enrich the relationships of relatively happy, nondistressed couples. Results suggested the intervention was efficacious in (a) favorably impacting couples' levels of relationship satisfaction, autonomy, relatedness, closeness, acceptance of one another, and relationship distress; (b) beneficially affecting individuals' optimism, spirituality, relaxation, and psychological distress; and (c) maintaining benefits at 3-month follow-up. Those who practiced mindfulness more had better outcomes, and within-person analyses of diary measures showed greater mindfulness practice on a given day was associated on several consecutive days with improved levels of relationship happiness, relationship stress, stress coping efficacy, and overall stress.
Using an explicit model of emotion, we developed the Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire. This measure of emotional expressivity has three facets: impulse strength, negative expressivity, and positive expressivity. After evaluating its factor structure and psychometric properties, we tested propositions derived from an analysis of display rules. As predicted, women were more expressive than men; Asian-Americans less expressive than other ethnic groups; and Democrats more expressive than Republicans. Expressivity also was related to two mood dimensions and to four of the Big Five personality dimensions. The pattern of findings for the subscales showed convergent and discriminant validity. Positive mood, Extraversion, and Agreeableness were most strongly related to the Positive Expressivity subscale. Negative mood, Neuroticism, and somatic complaints were most strongly related to the Impulse Strength and Negative Expressivity subscales.
On the basis of an interdependence analysis, it is proposed that commitment to a close relationship is associated with cognitive interdependence—a mental state characterized by a pluralistic, collective representation of the self-in-relationship. A cross-sectional survey study and a 2-wave longitudinal study revealed that strong commitment to a romantic relationship is associated with greater spontaneous plural pronoun usage, greater perceived unity of self and partner, and greater reported relationship centrality. Commitment and cognitive interdependence operate in a cycle of mutual influence, such that earlier commitment predicts change over time in cognitive interdependence, and earlier cognitive interdependence predicts change over time in commitment. Links between commitment and cognitive interdependence were weak or nonsignificant for relationships among best friends, suggesting that this phenomenon may be unique to romantic relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved). (from the journal abstract)
Seventy-three married couples were studied in 1983 and 1987. To identify marital processes associated with dissolution, a balance theory of marriage was used to generate 1 variable for dividing couples into regulated and nonregulated groups. For studying the precursors of divorce, a "cascade" model of marital dissolution, which forms a Guttman-like scale, received preliminary support. Compared with regulated couples, nonregulated couples had (a) marital problems rated as more severe (Time 1); (b) lower marital satisfaction (Time 1 and Time 2); (c) poorer health (Time 2); (d) smaller finger pulse amplitudes (wives); (e) more negative ratings for interactions; (f) more negative emotional expression; (g) less positive emotional expression; (h) more stubbornness and withdrawal from interaction; (i) greater defensiveness; and (j) greater risk for marital dissolution (lower marital satisfaction and higher incidence of consideration of dissolution and of actual separation).
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.
This article presents a theory of how different types of discrepancies between self-state representa- tions are related to different kinds of emotional vulnerabilities. One domain of the self (actual; ideal; ought) and one standpoint on the self (own; significant other) constitute each type of self-state representation. It is proposed that different types of self-discrepancies represent different types of negative psychological situations that are associated with different kinds of discomfort. Discrepan- cies between the actual/own self-state (i.e., the self-concept) and ideal self-stales (i.e., representations of an individual's beliefs about his or her own or a significant other's hopes, wishes, or aspirations for the individual) signify the absence of positive outcomes, which is associated with dejection-related emotions (e.g., disappointment, dissatisfaction, sadness). In contrast, discrepancies between the ac- tual/own self-state and ought self-states (i.e., representations of an individual's beliefs about his or her own or a significant other's beliefs about the individual's duties, responsibilities, or obligations) signify the presence of negative outcomes, which is associated with agitation-related emotions (e.g., fear, threat, restlessness). Differences in both the relative magnitude and the accessibility of individu- als' available types of self-discrepancies are predicted to be related to differences in the kinds of discomfort people are likely to experience. Correlational and experimental evidence supports the predictions of the model. Differences between serf-discrepancy theory and (a) other theories of in- compatible self-beliefs and (b) actual self negativity (e.g., low self-esteem) are discussed.
In 1980, 30 married couples had engaged in a low-conflict and a high-conflict conversational interaction while continuous physiological data were obtained. In a separate session each spouse had provided a continuous self-report of affect while viewing the videotape of the interaction. In 1983, 19 of these couples were re-located to determine the change in relationship satisfaction that had occurred over the preceding 3 years. A broadly based pattern of physiological arousal (across spouses, interaction segments, and physiological measures) in 1980 was found to predict decline in marital satisfaction; the more aroused the couple was during the 1980 interactions, the more their marital satisfaction declined over the ensuing 3 years. Several affective variables also predicted decline in marital satisfaction, including a pronounced sex difference in negative affect reciprocity: Marital satisfaction declined most when husbands did not reciprocate their wives' negative affect, and when wives did reciprocate their husbands' negative affect.
In exploring the emotional climate of long-term marriages, this study used an observational coding system to identify specific emotional behaviors expressed by middle-aged and older spouses during discussions of a marital problem. One hundred and fifty-six couples differing in age and marital satisfaction were studied. Emotional behaviors expressed by couples differed as a function of age, gender, and marital satisfaction. In older couples, the resolution of conflict was less emotionally negative and more affectionate than in middle-aged marriages. Differences between husbands and wives and between happy and unhappy marriages were also found. Wives were more affectively negative than husbands, whereas husbands were more defensive than wives, and unhappy marriages involved greater exchange of negative affect than happy marriages.
This study examined the effect of having a safe person present on artificially induced anxiety following a biological challenge among panic-disordered patients. Anxiety symptoms were induced using a 5.5% CO2-inhalation procedure. Panic patients underwent the inhalation procedure either in the presence or absence of their safe person. Nonanxious controls underwent the procedure without a safe person. Panic patients exposed to CO2 without their safe person present reported greater distress, a greater number of catastrophic cognitions, and a greater level of physiological arousal than did panic patients exposed with their safe person. The latter group did not differ from controls on most measures at postexposure. The attenuation of self-reported anxiety and catastrophic cognitions is consistent with the safety-signal theory and the cognitive model of panic, respectively. The results, however, are inconsistent with a biological model of panic.
Drawing on an explicit model of emotion, we propose a multifaceted approach to emotional expressivity, defined as the behavioral (e.g., facial, postural) changes associated with emotion. Study 1 shows that self-reported expressivity has 3 facets (Impulse Strength, Negative Expressivity, Positive Expressivity). Study 2 shows that the same 3 facets emerge in peer ratings and that there are robust relations between self- and peer-rated expressivity. In Study 3, emotion-expressive behavior was videotaped and related to expressivity self-reports obtained several months earlier. As expected, Negative Expressivity predicted behavioral expressions of sadness (but not amusement), whereas Positive Expressivity predicted amusement (but not sadness). These relations remained even when subjective emotional experience and physiological response were controlled. These studies demonstrate the importance of a multifaceted approach to emotional expressivity and have implications for the understanding of personality and emotion.
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 recipient's 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 recipient's 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 person's sadness although this effect reached statistical significance only in the second study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Social phobia is increasingly recognized as a prevalent and socially impairing mental disorder. However, little data is available regarding the general and disease-specific impairments and disabilities associated with social phobia. Furthermore, most studies have not controlled for the confounding effects of comorbid conditions. This study investigates: (a) the generic quality of life; (b) work productivity; and, (c) various other disorder-specific social impairments in current cases with pure (n = 65), comorbid (n = 51) and subthreshold (n = 34) DSM-IV social phobia as compared to controls with no social phobia (subjects with a history of herpes infections). Social phobia cases reported a mean illness duration of 22.9 years with onset in childhood or adolescence. Current quality of life, as assessed by the SF-36, was significantly reduced in all social phobia groups, particularly in the scales measuring vitality, general health, mental health, role limitations due to emotional health, and social functioning. Comorbid cases revealed more severe reductions than pure and subthreshold social phobics. Findings from the Liebowitz self-rated disability scale indicated that: (a) social phobia affects most areas of life, but in particular education, career, and romantic relationship; (b) the presence of past and current comorbid conditions increases the frequency of disease-specific impairments; and, (c) subthreshold social phobia revealed slightly lower overall impairments than comorbid social phobics. Past week work productivity of social phobics was significantly diminished as indicated by: (a) a three-fold higher rate of unemployed cases; (b) elevated rates of work hours missed due to social phobia problems; and, (c) a reduced work performance. Overall, these findings underline that social phobia in our sample of adults, whether comorbid, subthreshold, or pure was a persisting and impairing condition, resulting in considerable subjective suffering and negative impact on work performance and social relationships. The current disabilities and impairments were usually less pronounced than in the past, presumably due to adaptive behaviors in life style of the respondents. Data also confirmed that social phobia is poorly recognized and rarely treated by the mental health system.
When women express hostility, the target is typically a significant other. Our efforts to account for this observation center on the role of rejection sensitivity - the disposition to anxiously expect, readily perceive, and overreact to rejection - in women's hostility. We have previously shown that dispositional anxious expectations about rejection by a significant other prompt women to readily perceive rejection and to react with hostility in situations that activate rejection expectations. These findings led us to propose that the hostility of women in such situations is a specific reaction to perceived rejection. Results from three studies support this proposition. Using a priming-pronunciation task paradigm, Study 1 revealed that rejection thoughts facilitated hostile thoughts to a greater extent in women high in rejection expectations (HRS) than in those low in rejection expectations (LRS). Chronic accessibility of hostile thoughts was unrelated to rejection expectations. Study 2 found that, following rejection by a potential dating partner, HRS women evaluated their prospective partners less positively than LRS women. Partner evaluations were unrelated to rejection expectations in a nonrejection control condition. Using a daily diary methodology, Study 3 showed that HRS women were more likely than LRS women to report a conflict with their romantic partners only when they had felt rejected on the previous day.
Taking a “Gestalt” perspective, we propose that a particular pattern of self-beliefs, as a whole, has a distinct psychological significance that depends on the interrelations among the self-beliefs and not just the self-beliefs as independent elements. Patterns of self-beliefs were identified that contained a particular type of self-discrepancy in common but differed in how a third self-belief related to that self-discrepancy. First, four patterns were compared that each involved an actual:ideal discrepancy: A F], A F] pattern as a whole signifies “doing less well than wished for but not less than expected” whereas the A < I[= F] pattern as a whole signifies “chronically unfulfilled hopes.” The A = C [< I] pattern as a whole signifies “fulfillment of one's limited potential” whereas the A < C[= I] pattern as a whole signifies “chronic failure to me...
This article outlines some basic ideas of an evolutionary approach to psychopathology. It focuses on human competition to be seen as attractive in order to elicit the investment of resources from others (e.g., approval, support, and care). It is argued that social anxiety may be a form of competitive anxiety, triggered in contexts where individuals see themselves as relatively low in the status hierarchy of desirable attributes and/or at risk of losing status (and control over social resources such as approval, help, and support) by being seen as having undesirable attributes. To improve (or defend) their position and garner the investments of others (e.g., win approval, support, friendships or status, or defend their status) requires a competitive venture; however, in attempting to compete, social phobics automatically recruit various evolved modules and mentalities for behaving in competitive arenas when one is low in the hierarchy (e.g., social comparison, placating dominant others and various submissive defenses such as concealment, high self-monitoring, and eye-gaze avoidance). These previously adaptive subordinate defenses interfere with status acquisition based on demonstrating attractive attributes to others.
This article presents a construct validation of a love scale based upon a triangular theory of love. The article opens with a review of some of the major theories of love, and with a discussion of some of the major issues in love research. Next it briefly reviews selected elements of the triangular theory of love, according to which love can be understood as comprising three components—intimacy, passion, and decision/ commitment. Then the article presents two studies constituting the construct validation of the love scale. The construct validation comprises aspects of internal validation—determination of whether the internal structure of the data is consistent with the theory—and external validation—determination of whether the scale based on the theory shows sensible patterns of correlations with external measures. The data are generally, but not completely supportive of the utility of the triangular love scale.