Relationship Science: Motivated Reasoning, Conflict, Health, and Transition to Parenthood

Vocabulary flashcards covering motivated reasoning, relationship maintenance, conflict patterns, health links, and the transition to parenthood.

Motivated reasoning

The process by which personal motives, desires, and preferences direct how information is selected, interpreted, and organized to reach a favored conclusion.

Enhancement bias

A cognitive preference for processing information that supports positive beliefs about a partner or relationship, even when that information is not fully accurate.

Positive illusions

A phenomenon identified by Murray, Holmes, and Griffin where individuals perceive their romantic partners more favorably than the partners perceive themselves.

Verification bias

The preference for feedback from a partner that confirms an individual's existing self-views over feedback that is purely positive.

Trait specificity

A relationship maintenance strategy where individuals enhance partners on broad, global traits while accurately verifying them on specific, concrete traits.

Empathic inaccuracy

A motivated decline in accuracy regarding a partner's thoughts and feelings during conflict when those thoughts are threatening to the relationship.

Downward social comparison

The defensive strategy of comparing one's own relationship to less fortunate couples in order to minimize negative perceptions.

Relationship superiority bias

The tendency documented by Van Lange and Rusbult for individuals to report more positive and fewer negative attributes for their own relationship than for the typical relationship.

Differential importance

A cognitive coping strategy where individuals assign heavy importance to a partner's strengths and minimize the importance of their flaws.

Doormat effect

The reduction in self-respect experienced by a forgiving individual when the offending partner is disagreeable or fails to make amends.

Find, Remind, Bind

A model by Algoe proposing that gratitude identifies responsive new partners, binds couples closer together, and reminds people of current high-quality partnerships.

Ambivalence

A state of mixed and conflicting feelings toward a romantic partner, distinct from purely negative sentiments, often heightened by desire for alternatives.

Transformation of motivation

The process whereby an initial impulse to act on self-interest is replaced by constructive actions guided by broader relationship values.

Accommodation

The constructive behavioral response of inhibiting retaliatory impulses when a partner engages in bad or hurtful behavior.

Comparison Level ($CL$)

The standard of expectations an individual holds regarding the quality of outcomes they deserve or expect in a relationship.

Comparison Level for Alternatives ($CL_{alt}$)

The standard evaluating the expected outcomes available from the best alternative outside the current relationship, including singlehood.

Dependence

In interdependence theory, the structural reliance on a partnership that occurs when relationship outcomes exceed the comparison level for alternatives ($CL_{alt}$).

Investments

Irretrievable resources tied to a relationship that would be lost if the partnership dissolved, including time, shared money, and emotional energy.

Capitalization

The process of sharing positive personal news with others and experiencing their validating response, which elevates commitment and satisfaction.

Criticism (Gottman)

A destructive communication pattern characterized by an ad hominem attack on a partner's character rather than a complaint about a specific behavior.

Contempt (Gottman)

A communication pattern reflecting disgust, hatred, or superiority toward a partner through sarcasm, name-calling, eye-rolling, sneering, or mockery.

Defensiveness (Gottman)

A reactive communication strategy that wards off perceived attacks by deflecting blame back onto the partner.

Stonewalling (Gottman)

A behavior where a partner emotionally or physically withdraws, shuts down, and feigns indifference to avoid conflict.

Demand-withdraw pattern

A self-perpetuating cycle in which one partner pressures for change or contact while the other partner avoids the discussion or retreats.

Emotional security theory

A framework by Cummings and Davies positing that destructive parental conflict threatens children's fundamental need for safety, leading to adjustment difficulties.

Social integration

Participation across a diverse network of social roles and relationships, representing the structural opposite of social isolation.

Social support

The psychological and material resources provided by a social network to help an individual manage and cope with stress.

Main effects model

A theoretical model proposing that social integration exerts a direct, beneficial influence on physical health regardless of stress levels.

Stress buffering model

A model stating that social support protects health primarily by mitigating the physiological and psychological toll of high stress.

Enacted support

The specific assistance and aid actually received from others during times of need, which can occasionally impair autonomy or self-efficacy.

Social substitution hypothesis

The proposition that intensive reliance on artificial intelligence chatbots for personal challenges reflects unmet real-world social needs.

Family systems theory

A theory by Cox and Paley viewing families as interconnected networks of relationships that mutually influence each other and require reorganization when elements change.

Process-person-context model

Bronfenbrenner's framework stating that individual adjustment to transitions depends simultaneously on personal traits and surrounding contextual resources.