Thomas L. Wright’s research while affiliated with Catholic University of America and other places

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Publications (19)


Justifications for Extramarital Relationships: The Association Between Attitudes, Behaviors, and Gender
  • Article

August 1992

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550 Reads

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258 Citations

Shirley P. Glass Ph.D

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Thomas L. Wright Ph.D

Married persons completed anonymous questionnaires rating the extent to which they would feel justified having an extramarital relationship for 17 reasons derived from the clinical and research literatures. Men and women clustered these justifications similarly into four factors: sexual, romantic love, emotional intimacy, and extrinsic. Women approved less of sexual justifications and more of love justifications. Attitude-behavior congruence was demonstrated in the link between sexual justification and sexual involvement for both sexes and in the link between love justifications and emotional involvement for men. The data supported the observation that men separate sex and love; women appear to believe that love and sex go together and that falling in love justifies sexual involvement. Clinical implications include the importance of understanding the extramarital attitudes as cognitions and thresholds related to extramarital behavior. Research implications include the importance of assessing specific reasons including emotional justifications, assessing emotional involvement and sexual involvement, and analyzing for gender differences.


A Social Relations Model Test of Sullivan's Anxiety Hypothesis
  • Article
  • Publisher preview available

June 1987

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29 Reads

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23 Citations

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Interpersonal relationships and mutual influence are important aspects of both personality and behavior. However, empirical tests of mutual influence in anxiety have not occurred because of difficulties in design and assessment. In this report, we present a study of two training groups of graduate students and a study of an outpatient psychotherapy group. In both studies relationship-specific variance was significant and accounted for a substantial proportion of the systematic variance. In the training groups, there were also significant individual differences in experienced anxiety. These studies support the importance of relationships in anxiety but not Sullivan's hypothesis of the exclusive interpersonal nature of anxiety (Sullivan, 1964). The results address Endler and Magnusson's (1976a, 1976b) interactional approach to anxiety by assessing dynamic interaction rather than mechanistic interaction. In addition, these studies extend the use of the Social Relations Model to a new area, anxiety, and demonstrate its use in separating relationship-specific adjustments in anxiety from individual differences in anxiety.

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A social relations model test of the interpersonal circle.

June 1986

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7 Reads

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17 Citations

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Argues that D. J. Kiesler's (see record 1983-30243-001) interpersonal circle theory of structure of relationships does not provide a method to distinguish between the influence of individual differences and relationship specific effects. It is suggested that D. A. Kenny and L. LaVoie's (1984) social relations model separates these effects but lacks a comprehensive guide for which domains of interpersonal behavior to study. The present authors use the social relations model to test Kiesler's proposition that complimentarity on the affiliation dimension results in correspondence, whereas complimentarity on the control dimension results in reciprocity. Round-robin analyses of variance (ANOVAs) of 16 graduate students' ratings of each other in experiential groups revealed clear support for correspondence on the affiliation dimension but inconclusive results for reciprocity on the control dimension. Making a bridge between the interpersonal circle and the social relations model highlights the potential importance of 3 perspectives toward relationships: 2 kinds of individual differences across relationships, 1-sided relationship specific effects, and mutual relationship specific effects. (17 ref)


A Social Relations Model Test of the Interpersonal Circle

June 1986

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25 Reads

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27 Citations

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Argues that D. J. Kiesler's (see record 1983-30243-001) interpersonal circle theory of structure of relationships does not provide a method to distinguish between the influence of individual differences and relationship specific effects. It is suggested that D. A. Kenny and L. LaVoie's (1984) social relations model separates these effects but lacks a comprehensive guide for which domains of interpersonal behavior to study. The present authors use the social relations model to test Kiesler's proposition that complimentarity on the affiliation dimension results in correspondence, whereas complimentarity on the control dimension results in reciprocity. Round-robin analyses of variance (ANOVAs) of 16 graduate students' ratings of each other in experiential groups revealed clear support for correspondence on the affiliation dimension but inconclusive results for reciprocity on the control dimension. Making a bridge between the interpersonal circle and the social relations model highlights the potential importance of 3 perspectives toward relationships: 2 kinds of individual differences across relationships, 1-sided relationship specific effects, and mutual relationship specific effects. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)


A Cautionary Note on the Interpretation of Relationship Effects in the Social Relations Model

March 1986

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8 Reads

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17 Citations

Social Psychology Quarterly

Kenny and La Voie's Social Relations Model (1984) is a promising approach to the analysis of social interaction data which simultaneously and independently assesses individual differences and relationship-specific effects among interacting subjects. Unfortunately, some authors have used one-replication studies (which confound error and relationship-specific variance) and have interpreted the confounded relationship/error variance component as a relationship effect. We reanalyzed behaviorally coded data from four experiential groups. Side by side one-replication and two-replication Round Robin Analyses of Variance of two behaviors demonstrated the danger of interpreting the confounded relationship/error component of one-replication analyses as a relationship effect. With questioning behavior, one-replication analyses suggested a relationship-specific effect, but a two-replication analysis indicated that this finding was error variance. For self-disclosing behavior, the two-replication analysis confirmed the suggested relationhsip effect from the one-replication analyses. Researchers interested in relationship-specific effects using the Social Relations Model should design their studies to allow for two or more replications and report relationship variance terms unconfounded with error.


Partners and Relationships Influence Self-Perceptions of Self-Disclosures in Naturalistic Interactions

March 1986

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16 Reads

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7 Citations

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Self-perception (SP) studies have demonstrated that experimenters' questions and confederates' behavior can influence Ss' subsequent SPs of introversion/extraversion. D. A. Kenny and L. La Voie's (1984) social relations model distinguishes 2 types of effects of others: partner effects and relationship effects. The present study tested whether either or both of these types of effects influence SPs of self-disclosures in naturalistic interactions. 34 graduate students and leaders in 4 training groups rated their SPs of self-disclosure with each other after the 6th and 12th weekly meeting. Analyses revealed a relationship effect and a partner trend in addition to an actor effect. Findings distinguish 2 types of effects of others on SPs, extend the generality of effects of others on SP to a new content area and to naturalistic (nonscripted) interactions, and validate the use of the social relations model in the study of SPs. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)


Partners and relationships influence self-perceptions of self-disclosures in naturalistic interactions.

March 1986

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7 Reads

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8 Citations

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Self-perception (SP) studies have demonstrated that experimenters' questions and confederates' behavior can influence Ss' subsequent SPs of introversion/extraversion. D. A. Kenny and L. La Voie's (1984) social relations model distinguishes 2 types of effects of others: partner effects and relationship effects. The present study tested whether either or both of these types of effects influence SPs of self-disclosures in naturalistic interactions. 34 graduate students and leaders in 4 training groups rated their SPs of self-disclosure with each other after the 6th and 12th weekly meeting. Analyses revealed a relationship effect and a partner trend in addition to an actor effect. Findings distinguish 2 types of effects of others on SPs, extend the generality of effects of others on SP to a new content area and to naturalistic (nonscripted) interactions, and validate the use of the social relations model in the study of SPs. (11 ref)


Satisfaction and Things Not Said: Clinical Tools for Group Therapists

November 1985

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13 Reads

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16 Citations

Small Group Research

This is the first in a series of articles on maximizing the client benefits in small groups. Our approach to the problem derives from our dual roles as clinicians and researchers. In this article we will report our clinical observations based on the time-limited groups we have been leading and present relevant data on clinical tools that accelerate devel opment in groups.


Sex Differences in Type of Extramarital Involvement and Marital Dissatisfaction

May 1985

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312 Reads

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246 Citations

This study extends traditional sex roles to extramarital relationships in order to clarify sex differences in extramarital involvement and marital dissatisfaction. Both emotional and sexual extramarital involvement were studied, since women's greater emphasis on emotional intimacy was ignored in earlier extramarital studies which focused solely on sexual involvement. A purposive sample of 300 White middle-class men and women completed anonymous questionnaires about marital and extramarital relationships. Men's extramarital relationships are more sexual and women's are more emotional. Women involved in extramarital relationships report greater marital dissatisfaction than their male counterparts. For both sexes, those with combined sexual and emotional extramarital involvement report the greatest marital dissatisfaction. In sum, traditional sex roles that influence the expressions of sexuality and emotionality in premarital and marital relationships also appear to operate in extramarital relationships.


Citations (19)


... A small but growing number of empirical studies have used the SRM to examine interpersonal perception and relations in psychotherapy groups (Marcus et.al., 2001;Marcus and Holahan, 1994) and graduate student training groups (Chen and Mallinckrodt, 2002;Wright and Ingraham, 1985). This study was based on classic Cook (2000) measurements on security of attachment within families adopting three person family-father, mother and younger child. ...

Reference:

Why Has Bangladesh Made Success in Microfinance? An Application of Social Relations Model
Simultaneous study of individual differences and relationship effects in social behavior in groups.
  • Citing Article
  • April 1985

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

... One study investigated complementarity processes in larger groups. Wright and Ingraham (1986) had classes of eight students complete retrospective measures of interpersonal style for each of their classmates based on the students' interactions over the course of a school term. Using a social relations model to test actor, partner, and relationship effects, the authors showed that a large proportion of the dyads within the group exhibited correspondence on the affiliation dimension, and there were trends toward reciprocity on the dominance dimension. ...

A social relations model test of the interpersonal circle.
  • Citing Article
  • June 1986

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

... Initial studies demonstrated individual differences effects and relationship-specific effects in verbal behavior (La Voie. 1981;Warner et al., 1979;Wright & Ingraham, 1985), in attraction (Kenny & Nasby, 1980;Wright & Ingraham, 1986b;Wright, Ingraham, & Blackmer, 1984) and in self-disclosure (Chemtob & Wright, 1986;Miller & Kenny, 1986;Wright & Ingraham, 1985, 1986a. These studies have contributed to the personality literature by clearly demonstrating independent and significant contributions of individual differences and relationship-specific effects in each of these areas. ...

Partners and relationships influence self-perceptions of self-disclosures in naturalistic interactions.
  • Citing Article
  • March 1986

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

... Jednou z nejpoužívanějších metod, uplatňovaných pro vzájemná hodnocení spolupracovníky, je metoda 360 stupňové zpětné vazby, která je založena na posuzování předem určených kompetencí hodnocené osoby jeho kolegy, podřízenými i nadřízenými, někdy se do role hodnotitelů nominují také interní či externí klienti (Sysinger, Crispo, 2012). Přestože se SRM uplatnil už u celé řady výzkumů, jako je vůdcovství (Kenny, Zaccaro, 1983), interpersonální atraktivita (Wright, Ingraham & Blackmer, 1985), blízkost v rodinách (Eichelsheim et al., 2009), studie věnované analýze SRM u 360 stupňové zpětné vazby jsme hledali velmi obtížně. Přitom by právě uplatnění SRM analýzy v oblasti hodnocení kompetencí mohlo ukázat, do jaké míry jsou nejčastěji měřené kompetence (např. ...

Simultaneous study of individual differences and relationship effects in attraction.
  • Citing Article
  • January 1984

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

... Munculnya perselingkuhan dalam ikatan pernikahan disebabkan oleh bermacam-macam hal. Berdasarkan berbagai literatur menyimpulkan bahwa alasan seseorang berselingkuh yaitu karena masalah seksual, kepuasan emosional yaitu salah satunya kepuasan dalam pernikahan, konteks sosial, sikap dan norma terhadap hubungan seksual, serta balas dendam karena pasangan juga berselingkuh (Glass & Wright, 1977). Perselingkuhan seksual secara positif berasosiasi dengan ketidak bahagiaan dalam pernikahan, kepuasan emosional terhadap pasangan yang rendah, ketidak seimbangan dalam rumah tangga pada perempuan, dan ketidakpuasan dalam hubungan seksual pada laki-laki (Ponzetti, 2003). ...

“The Relationship of Extra-Marital Sex, Length of Marriage and Sex Differences on Marital Satisfaction and Romanticism: Athanasiou's Data Reanalysed”
  • Citing Article
  • November 1977

Journal of Marriage and Family

... There is still a lack of larger-scale systematic research on the basic psychometric properties of individual differences in dynamic states (see Wendt et al., Although a substantial share of variance in interpersonal experiences and behaviors that make up social interaction processes is usually not explained by actor/perceiver or partner/target variances, not much is known about the relational predictors of this substantial "rest". Of course, a large portion of the variance that is found to be independent of main effects of interaction partners is random noise (Ingraham, & Wright, 1986), but there is strong evidence for reliable and stable relationship variance as well (Back, Schmukle, & Egloff, 2019;Kenny, 1994). Relationship effects (the unique experience or behavior towards a specific interaction partner) directly follow from individual differences in the interpersonal ifthen contingencies previously described. ...

A Cautionary Note on the Interpretation of Relationship Effects in the Social Relations Model
  • Citing Article
  • March 1986

Social Psychology Quarterly

... Both sexes perceived superfemales as trusting others more than supermales did. A review of the construct validation studies with the ITS reveals little attention to sex differences, but shows that many studies have sampled trust by men and women (Hamsher, 1969;Hamsher, Geller & Rotter, 1968;Hochreich, 1975;Hochreich & Rotter, 1970;Lajoy, 1975;Lotsof & Grot, 1972;Mac-Donald, Kessel, & Fuller, 1972;Paal, 1975;Roberts, 1972;Wright, 1972;Wright & Arbuthnot, 1975;Wright, Arbuthnot, & Silber, 1977;Wright & Kirmani, 1977;Wright, Maggied, & Palmer, 1975). The focus here, as in earlier studies of sex differences on the ITS, is on the person trusting. ...

Interpersonal Trust and Attributions of Source Credibility: Evaluations of a Political Figure in a Crisis
  • Citing Article
  • June 1977

... The fourth independent variable to be embedded in the state-level conspiracy theory 'environment' is the ideological leaning of the voter. Previous studies have demonstrated the tendency that specific ideologies, especially those on the fringes of the ideological spectrum, have towards believing in conspiracy theories (Hofstadter, 2008(Hofstadter, [1964; Lipset & Raab, 1970;Sindre, 2014;Swami, 2012;van Prooijen, Krouwel, & Pollet, 2015;Wright & Arbuthnot, 1974). In the United States, conspiracy theories have been brought to the mainstream of the public sphere with conservatives being much more likely to believe in them (Nera et al., 2021;Romer & Jamieson, 2020;Stecula & Pickup, 2021). ...

Interpersonal Trust, Political Preference, and Perceptions of the Watergate Affair
  • Citing Article
  • February 1974

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

... Small sample sizes have limited the generalizations of several of the methodologically strongest studies (e.g., Marziali et al., 1997; Tschuschke & Dies, 1994). Many investigators have studied trainee groups rather than patient groups (e.g., Wright & Duncan, 1986 ). Some studies appear to have used alternate concepts such as self-acceptance (Rugel & Barry, 1990 ) or patient-therapist alliance (Sexton, 1993) rather than cohesion. ...

Attraction To Group, Group Cohesiveness, and Individual Outcome: A Study of Training Groups
  • Citing Article
  • November 1986

Small Group Research

... Thirty years ago, Wright, Ingraham, Chemtob, and Perez-Arce (1985) asked group members about their group experience after the session ended and found that group members revealed important things about the group that they did not reveal in the session. Specifically, they found members revealed readiness to work on certain issues, dissatisfaction that helped leaders prevent dropout, and motivation for being silent during a session. ...

Satisfaction and Things Not Said: Clinical Tools for Group Therapists
  • Citing Article
  • November 1985

Small Group Research