wk7B. close relationships &well being
ROMANTIC & CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS
Positive Psychology Course (PSYO 349)
CLOSE SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS
Importance of Close Social Relationships:
Individuals with healthy relationships tend to:
Live longer
Have better physical health
Experience more job satisfaction and enhanced work performance
Exhibit greater academic competence
Show increased creativity
WHAT IS LOVE?
Exploration of the concept of love in psychological terms.
TWO MAJOR TYPES OF LOVE
Passionate love:
Characteristics:
Associated with sexual feelings and intense emotions.
More predictive of Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA).
Companionate love:
Characteristics:
Involves attachment, intimacy, trust, closeness, and commitment.
More predictive of life satisfaction.
STERNBERG'S TRIANGULAR THEORY OF LOVE
Components of Love:
Intimacy (Liking):
Intimacy alone represents friendship without passion or commitment.
Passion (Infatuation):
Represents passion alone void of intimacy or commitment.
Commitment (Empty Love):
Involves commitment alone, without intimacy or passion.
Types of Love Resulting from Combination of Components:
Romantic love: Combination of intimacy and passion.
Companionate love: Combination of intimacy and commitment.
Fatuous love: Combination of passion and commitment.
Consummate love: Combines intimacy, passion, and commitment.
Observations of Relationship Progression:
As relationships progress, generally:
Passion and intimacy tend to decline.
Commitment tends to increase.
Mismatches between partners regarding these components can lead to relationship dissatisfaction.
SIX LOVE STYLES (LEE, 1977)
Eros:
Description: Strong physical attraction.
Ludus:
Description: Non-committal; views love as a game.
Storge:
Description: Friendship evolving into a romantic relationship.
Mania:
Combination of Eros + Ludus.
Characteristics: Possessive, jealous love.
Agape:
Combination of Eros + Storge.
Characteristics: Altruistic love, selfless.
Pragma:
Combination of Ludus + Storge.
Characteristics: Practical approach to love, evaluates partners on logical criteria.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF LEE'S LOVE STYLES
Eros:
Focused on strong physical attraction towards a partner.
Ludus:
Game-playing love where partners control the depth of involvement; often results in short-lived relationships.
Storge:
Evolves from friendship to love; characterized by gradually developed affection and emotional security.
Mania:
Defines possessive and dependent love; emotionally intense and involves obsessive focusing on the beloved.
Agape:
Unconditional giving love without expectation of reciprocation; characterized as gentle and caring.
Pragma:
Logical love where demographic factors such as education, religion, and age are considered in the selection of a partner; common in arranged marriages and matchmaking scenarios.
STUDYING LOVE STYLES ACROSS CULTURES
Research Title: Adult Attachment, Love Styles, Relationship Experiences and Subjective Well-Being: Cross-Cultural and Gender Comparison
Authors: Iolanda Costa Galinha, Shigehiro Oishi, Cicero Roberto Pereira, Derrick Wirtz, Francisco Esteves.
Key Focus: Examines attachment security, love styles, romantic relationship experiences, and their relationship with subjective well-being (SWB).
Sample: 1,574 university students (497 Americans, 544 Mozambicans, and 533 Portuguese).
Findings:
Variances in predictors of SWB across cultures.
In the US and Portugal, attachment security was the main predictor; in Mozambique, it was the Eros love style.
Storge love style predicted SWB in US and Portuguese samples, but not in Mozambique.
Mania love style was a significant predictor for Mozambicans, not for the others.
BOWLBY’S ATTACHMENT THEORY
Premise: Quality of interactions with early caregivers shapes adult attachment styles.
Implications: Attachment styles formed in childhood persist into adult romantic relationships.
Secure Attachment Figure Definition: A strong attachment figure acts as a secure base and safe haven.
Development of Insecure Attachment Styles:
Avoidant: Formed with emotionally unavailable caregivers.
Anxious: Formed with emotionally unreliable caregivers.
Secure: Developed with emotionally available and supportive caregivers.
STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL (SEM)
Definition: A statistical method that quantifies relationships between latent variables based on observed variables.
Relevance: This study employed SEM to analyze the associations among attachment styles, love styles, and subjective well-being (SWB).
PREDICTORS OF SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING
Table 5: Unstandardized regression estimates of predictors of SWB across gender in the three samples (US, Mozambique, Portugal).
Key Results:
Attachment Security: Significant positive correlation with SWB across samples, particularly strong among women.
Eros: Positive predictor in the US; negative in Mozambique.
Ludus: Varying effects across cultures, e.g., negative effect noted in Mozambique.
Storge: Positive predictor among women in the US and Portugal; negligible in Mozambique.
Mania: Positive in Mozambique but negative effects in US and Portugal.
Pragma: Linked to SWB in US and Mozambique among women, no correlation among men.
ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS AND WELL-BEING
ARE ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS LINKED TO WELL-BEING?
Observations of Well-Being in Context of Romantic Relationships:
Romantic relationships prior to marriage are associated with high levels of well-being, intimacy, companionship, and happiness.
Marriage correlated with lower instances of mental illness, physical health complaints, substance use, and mortality rates.
KEYS TO HIGH RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION
Findings Regarding Relationship Satisfaction (global SWB):
Feeling of love is the most crucial predictor of relationship satisfaction.
Idealistic perceptions of one’s partner (positivity bias) enhance relationship satisfaction.
Role of attachment: Secure attachment contributes to confidence in relationships, promoting healthier relationships.
RELATIONSHIPS OVER TIME
Figure 1: Overview of overall marital quality influenced by intervention conditions (reappraisal vs. control).
Notable Details:
Significant differences indicated by p-values (e.g., *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001).
Presentation of overall marital quality score over time, showing positive trajectories associated with interventions.
AN INTERPERSONAL INTERVENTION (THAT WORKS!)
Tactics for improving relational disagreements:
Reflect on disagreements from a neutral third-party perspective aimed at constructive outcomes. - Consider obstacles faced in maintaining this perspective during interpersonal conflicts.
Encourage participants to undertake this perspective consistently over an upcoming period to enhance relationship outcomes.
RELATIONSHIP DISSOLUTION
Negative Outcomes Associated with Relationship Breakup:
Can include anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, substance abuse, reduced self-esteem, poor physical health, and low satisfaction with life.
Positive Outcomes:
Post-traumatic growth and personal growth from reflection and coping strategies.
A STUDY ON GROWTH FOLLOWING BREAKUPS
Study Details:
Participants: 155 undergraduate students who recently experienced a relationship dissolution.
Hypothesis: Participants engaging in self-discovery and leveraging coping strategies would report positive emotional outcomes and personal growth post-breakup.
Confirmed the link between growth, self-expansion, and the experience of increased positive emotions post-dissolution.
KEY FINDINGS ON GROWTH
Mediators of Self-Expansion Impact:
Less perceived partner contribution to personal improvement led to increased feelings of growth post-breakup.
Less experienced loss of self post-divorce correlated with higher self-growth.
Associated positive emotions facilitate further personal growth post-dissolution.