John E Lydon
Biographic Data
| ID | 173084 |
|---|---|
| NAME | John E Lydon |
| GIVEN NAMES | John E |
| FAMILY NAME | Lydon |
| SIGNATURE | LYDON J E |
| AFFILIATIONS | McGill University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6500-5385 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 49 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 273 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 49 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1987 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 11 |
Comparing Trait-Wise and Profile-Wise Approaches to Assess the Links Between Metaperceptions and Romantic Interest During Speed-Dating
Our perceptions of how we come across to others—metaperceptions—potentially shape whether romantic connections flourish or fade. The current study advanced the investigation of metaperceptions in relationship initiation in two ways: (a) by comparing two leading approaches to assessing meta-accuracy and meta-bias (the profile-wise social accuracy model and the trait-wise truth and bias model) and (b) by examining how metaperceptions of evaluative …
Devaluation of Attractive Alternatives: How Those With Poor Inhibitory Ability Preemptively Resist Temptation
How do people resist in-the-moment temptation if they are poor at inhibiting their impulses? Theory on self-control suggests that people have a toolbox of strategies available to them that may be used preemptively to dampen temptations. Applying this to the goal of relationship maintenance, in two studies, we examined whether people motivated to maintain their romantic relationship but poor at inhibitory control would appraise an attractive alter…
When “we” defines “me”: Current theory and research on relationship identification
Drawing on theories or conceptualizations of relational selves, relationally interdependent self-construal (RISC) and self-determination, we present theory and research on relationship identification – the degree to which a person defines themselves in terms of a specific close relationship and integrates that relationship into their sense of self. Identification predicts relationship maintenance efforts independent of relationally interdependent…
On Creating Deeper Relationship Bonds: Felt Understanding Enhances Relationship Identification
Relational experiences play a critical role in shaping how individuals see themselves. In four studies ( N =945) using person-perception, longitudinal, and experimental designs, we demonstrate that feeling understood changes individuals’ self-concept by increasing the centrality of a specific relationship (relationship identification). Study 1 showed that participants perceived an individual to be more identified with their relationship when thei…
Meaning-making with romantic partners: Shared reality promotes meaning in life by reducing uncertainty
5 = 389 participants). Taken together, this work suggests that shared reality with close partners has real-world benefits, reducing uncertainty and promoting meaning. In addition, we show that experimentally heightening shared reality, by reducing uncertainty, can promote a greater sense of meaning in life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Knowing What You Want: The Role of Relationship Clarity in Single Young Adults' Loneliness and Well-Being
The goal of the current study was to explore the role of relationship clarity-the extent to which someone understands what they want in a relationship-in single young adults' dating experiences. We hypothesized that for single individuals who are actively dating, lacking clearly defined dating goals may lead to greater loneliness and, in turn, account for decreased life satisfaction. We first validated the Relationship Clarity Scale (RCS) using d…
With or without you: Understanding friendship dissolution from childhood through young adulthood
Friendship plays a critical role in well-being across the lifespan, making it important to understand the dissolution of these relationships. Friendships end in many ways and for many reasons, which may result in different social and emotional outcomes. In this review, we examine the rapidly burgeoning literature on friendship dissolution from childhood through young adulthood, detailing current understanding of how common friendship dissolution …
Self-concept clarity and the evaluation and selection of incompatible dating partners
Romantic compatibility is theorized to play a crucial role in the success and stability of romantic relationships, although evidence to date has been somewhat indirect. Previous experimental findings suggest that those lower, relative to higher, in self-concept clarity find it more challenging to evaluate similarity (i.e., a contributor to compatibility) in prospective romantic partners. The current research extends these findings by directly exa…
Understanding the Links Between Perceiving Gratitude and Romantic Relationship Satisfaction Using an Accuracy and Bias Framework
Perceiving a partner’s gratitude has several benefits for romantic relationships. We aimed to better understand these associations by decomposing perceptions into accuracy and bias. Specifically, we examined whether accuracy and bias in perceiving a partner’s experience (Study 1: N dyads = 205) and expression (Study 2: N dyads = 309) of gratitude were associated with romantic relationship satisfaction. Using the Truth and Bias Model of Judgment, …
Ruling out potential dating partners: The role of self-concept clarity in initial romantic partner evaluations
Because self-confusion may interfere with similarity judgments, we tested whether people who are lower, compared to higher, in self-concept clarity use similarity information less advantageously when evaluating potential romantic partners – whether they are less selective about compatibility at the relationship initiation stage. Across four repeated measures experiments (N = 758), we found that controlling for self-esteem and gender, those lower,…
Being understood and feeling understood: Examining the role of personality and emotion perceptions in others’ felt understanding
Say you’ll be there: Associations between observed verbal responses, friendship quality, and perceptions of support in young adult friendships
Friendships are a primary source of social support during young adulthood; however, little is known about the factors associated with young adults feeling greater support during interactions with friends. We examined how micro-level verbal responses and macro-level judgments of friendship quality were associated with perceptions of support following an interaction between friends. Same-gender friend dyads ( N = 132; 66.2% female; 18–24 years, M a…
Spatial proximity in relationships research methods: The effect of partner's presence during survey completion on shared reality in romantic couples' daily lives
Spatial proximity may be an artifact of relationships research methodology; however, little work has explored how this feature of research designs influences perceptions of one's relationship, particularly shared reality (i.e., experiencing a commonality of inner states). The present research tested whether spatial proximity would independently contribute to shared reality in couples' daily lives. In 2 daily diary studies, each across 3-4 weeks (…
Knowing how you see me: Exploring meta‐accuracy of personality, emotions and values and their links with relationship well‐being among young adults
INTRODUCTION: Do people (i.e., metaperceivers) know their romantic partners' (i.e., perceivers') impressions, displaying meta-accuracy? Is it related to relationship well-being? We explored two components of meta-accuracy: (1) positive meta-accuracy (i.e., knowing the perceiver's positive impressions of the metaperceiver), and (2) distinctive meta-accuracy (i.e., knowing the perceiver's unique impressions of the metaperceiver). First, we compared…
Happy prenatal relationships, healthy postpartum mothers: A prospective study of relationship satisfaction, postpartum stress, and health
Objective Major life transitions, such as the arrival of a new baby, can be stressful, and therefore, costly to one’s health. Being in a satisfying romantic relationship has been previously linked with better health, perhaps because it provides access to a bank of psychosocial resources. The objective of the present research was two-fold. First, we examined whether prenatal relationship satisfaction benefitted mothers’ postpartum health. Second, …
Seeing you, seeing me: Links between perceived commitment, metaperceptions, and relationship well‐being
Are perceiver's impressions of target's commitment associated with the target's relationship experience? Could target's metaperceptions (i.e., target's beliefs about the perceiver's impressions of the target) help explain why? In the present dyadic study ( N = 206; N couples = 103), we found that perceiver's impressions of target's commitment was positively related to target's relationship well‐being, and target's metaperceptions helped to accoun…
Relationship satisfaction in the time of Covid-19: The role of shared reality in perceiving partner support for frontline health-care workers
People often rely on partner support and shared reality during stressful and uncertain times. As such, the current research explored how these may relate to relationship satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, 155 frontline health-care workers and their significant others completed measures of shared reality and relationship satisfaction, while also indicating their levels of perceived or provided support, respectively. We proposed t…
What they say, how they say it, or how they look saying it: Which channels of communication link attachment anxiety and problematic first impressions
Concerns about what to say or do can compromise first impressions. In previous research, the anxiously attached-desperate to connect but preoccupied with potential rejection-had first impressions tainted with manifest anxiety (MAnx) and social disengagement (SDis). But which communication channels-content, sound, or visual-are most problematic? Distinguishing between channels is necessary to inform interventions that might help the anxiously atta…
Once and Again: History of Rearing Experiences and Psychosocial Parenting Resources at Six Months in Primiparous Mothers
Daily Experiences and Relationship Well‐Being: The Paradoxical Effects of Relationship Identification
OBJECTIVE: Even couples in healthy romantic relationships experience conflict at times. We examine whether relationship identification (the extent to which the relationship is incorporated into the self) predicts immediate reactivity to partner transgressions and also promotes global resilience over time. METHOD: Sixty-three couples participated in a 2-week event-contingent diary study. RESULTS: On a daily basis, experiencing more partner transgr…
Compensatory Relationship Enhancement: An Identity Motivated Response to Relationship Threat
The motivation-management model suggests that people are equipped with a variety of motivated strategies to mitigate against relationship threats such as conflicts of interests and partner transgressions. We propose that such strategies are more likely to be enacted when the nature of the threat is calibrated with the motivational basis for relationship maintenance. We examine how value dissimilarity may pose an identity threat that triggers reaf…
Uncovering and Overcoming Ambivalence: The Role of Chronic and Contextually Activated Attachment in Two‐Person Social Dilemmas
OBJECTIVE: Humans face an enduring conflict between desires to affiliate with others but to protect the self; effective social functioning often requires reconciling the resulting ambivalence between these motives. Attachment anxiety is characterized by chronically heightened concerns about affiliation and self-protection; we investigated how anxious individuals' chronic relational ambivalence affects interpersonal behavior. METHOD: We used the P…
A prototype approach to understanding sexual intimacy through its relationship to intimacy
The nature of sexual intimacy using lay conceptions (i.e., prototypes) of intimacy and sexual intimacy has been explored. In Study 1, participants listed the features of sexual intimacy and intimacy. In Study 2, centrality ratings of these features were obtained. Although the 2 prototypes were very similar, they each had unique central attributes. In Study 3, central features of both concepts were found to be more salient in memory than periphera…
Anxiety doesn’t become you: How attachment anxiety compromises relational opportunities
Although research has shown that attachment anxiety is detrimental to ongoing relationships, less is known about whether and how it affects the earliest stages of relationship initiation. How does attachment anxiety affect an initial interaction with a potential relationship partner? The present investigation explored the interpersonal outcomes associated with attachment anxiety in the context of various relational opportunities, testing a mediat…
Strong but insecure: Examining the prevalence and correlates of insecure attachment bonds with attachment figures
This study examined whether people can be insecurely attached to figures who are actively sought out (and not just desired) to fulfill attachment functions and whether this has negative consequences for psychological well-being. A total of 122 participants rated 3-15 relational targets on measures including the extent to which the target fulfills important attachment functions and the attachment style characterizing the relationship. Participants…
Relational sexual scripts and women's condom use: The importance of internalized norms
Three studies were conducted to explore the impact of scripted sociosexual norms on women's contraceptive behavior. In Study 1, scripts of an initial sexual encounter written by 36 female and 30 male undergraduates were analyzed for relational orientation. Women portrayed the female character as more relational than the male character. Scripts including condom use were less relational than those without condom use. In Study 2, a Relational Ideal …
Global and specific relational models in the experience of social interactions
Two studies demonstrated that global and relationship-specific models of self and other are correlated but not redundant constructs. Relationship-specific models were operationalized in terms of significant role relationships (Study 1) and salient relationships (i.e., frequent interactions; Study 2). Longitudinal analyses (Study 1) suggested that specific models generalized to global ones over time and that global models had a small but significa…
Priming relational schemas: Effects of contextually activated and chronically accessible interpersonal expectations on responses to a stressful event
The authors used a relational schemas approach to test the effects of interpersonal expectations on responses to a stressful event. In Study 1, a subliminal priming technique was used to demonstrate the causal influence of experimentally activated interpersonal expectations on affect, support seeking, and coping responses to a hypothetical unplanned pregnancy. Activation of positive interpersonal expectations increased reports of seeking emotiona…
The differential effects of intrinsic and identified motivation on well-being and performance: Prospective, experimental, and implicit approaches to self-determination theory
Self-determination theory research has demonstrated that intrinsic and identified self-regulations are associated with successful adaptation. However, few distinctions are typically made between these regulations and their outcomes. In the present studies, the associations between intrinsic and identified motivations and outcomes of psychological well-being and academic performance are compared in educational settings. In Study 1, intrinsic self-…
Commitment-motivated benign appraisals of partner transgressions: Do they facilitate accommodation
The current investigation examines the hypothesis that commitment predicts increasingly benign appraisals of partner transgressions and that this may in turn lead to greater accommodation. A survey of 226 students in heterosexual dating relationships was conducted. Commitment, the perceived severity of partner transgressions, and accommodation were assessed. Commitment was significantly associated with the discrepancy between participant severity…
Coping with moral commitment to long-distance dating relationships
The uncertainty of relationship transitions should elicit more elaborate cognitive processing about one's relationship. As a result, reports of a type of relationship commitment distinctive from satisfaction-moral commitment-might be obtained from those about to begin long distance relationships. Students assessed prior to the academic year reported 2 types of commitment: moral and enthusiastic. Moral commitment was highly correlated with the mea…
Commitment in the face of adversity: A value-affirmation approach
In light of Brickmarfs (1987a) model of commitment, it is argued that adversity serves as a clear test of one's felt commitment. Furthermore, it is proposed that people feel especially committed to those experiences that they see as diagnostic of their values. Therefore, we hypothesized that self-relevant values (Steele, 1988) may be an antecedent variable that predicts commitment in the face of adversity. Study 1, a cross-sectional study of stud…
Attitude and activity preference similarity: Differential bases of interpersonal attraction for low and high self-monitors
Une experience met a l'epreuve le role moderateur de la variable de personnalite degagee par Snyder dans la relation entre similarite et attraction, et dans la relation entre similarite de la preference d'activite et attraction interpersonnelle
Mind-set and close relationships: When bias leads to (in)accurate predictions
The authors investigated whether mind-set influences the accuracy of relationship predictions. Because people are more biased in their information processing when thinking about implementing an important goal, relationship predictions made in an implemental mind-set were expected to be less accurate than those made in a more impartial deliberative mind-set. In Study 1, open-ended thoughts of students about to leave for university were coded for m…
Anxiety doesn’t become you: How attachment anxiety compromises relational opportunities
Although research has shown that attachment anxiety is detrimental to ongoing relationships, less is known about whether and how it affects the earliest stages of relationship initiation. How does attachment anxiety affect an initial interaction with a potential relationship partner? The present investigation explored the interpersonal outcomes associated with attachment anxiety in the context of various relational opportunities, testing a mediat…
Women's Perceptions Of Female Contraceptive Behavior: Experimental Evidence of the Sexual Double Standard
A social perception study was conducted to examine the effect of the sexual double standard on impressions of a female target. As part of a “social memory” study, 57 female undergraduates read a fictitious woman's diary describing a sexual encounter where the woman provided a condom, the man provided a condom, or the couple had unprotected intercourse. Participants made behavioral judgments and interpersonal judgments about the couple, and rated …
Navigating the interdependence dilemma: Attachment goals and the use of communal norms with potential close others
Four studies investigated attachment in the context of new relationship development. Anxiously attached individuals overwhelmingly used communal norms and avoided using exchange norms when interacting with a potential close other; however, when a potential close other used communal norms, anxious individuals experienced increased interpersonal anxiety. Anxious individuals also used discrete communal behaviors to diagnose relationship potential. B…
Relationship-specific identification and spontaneous relationship maintenance processes
Attractive alternative partners pose a relational threat to people in romantic relationships. Given that people are often limited in their time and energy, having the capacity to effortlessly respond to such relational threats is extremely useful. In 4 studies, we explored how people's identity in terms of their romantic relationship--their relationship-specific identity--affects their relationship-protective behaviors. We predicted that once a r…
If-then contingencies and the differential effects of the availability of an attractive alternative on relationship maintenance for men and women
In 7 experiments, the causal effects of the availability of an attractive alternative (AA) relationship partner on current relationship thoughts and intentions were tested using confederates, mental simulations, and virtual reality. Men behaved consistent with traditional relationship-commitment theories, showing decreased willingness to tolerate their partner's transgressions after the availability of an AA was made salient. However, consistent …
Relationship satisfaction in the time of Covid-19: The role of shared reality in perceiving partner support for frontline health-care workers
People often rely on partner support and shared reality during stressful and uncertain times. As such, the current research explored how these may relate to relationship satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, 155 frontline health-care workers and their significant others completed measures of shared reality and relationship satisfaction, while also indicating their levels of perceived or provided support, respectively. We proposed t…
Relationship-specific attachment, risk regulation, and communal norm adherence in close relationships
Pregnancy Decision Making: Predictors of Early Stress and Adjustment
Pregnancy decision making was examined among pregnant and nonpregnant women seeking pregnancy testing. The majority of women had decided upon and were certain of a decision to either abort or carry a possible pregnancy before learning the pregnancy-test results. Adjustment to pregnancy decision making was examined longitudinally among the women who tested positive for pregnancy. Pregnant participants were interviewed about their decisions to carr…
Commitment, Intimacy, and Women's Perceptions of Premarital Sex and Contraceptive Readiness
A person-perception study was conducted to examine the influence of intimacy and commitment on the acceptability of premarital sex and contraceptive preparedness. Ninety-six women rated a female target's personality and behavior after reading a diary entry describing a couple's initial sexual encounter. The nature of the couple's relationship and who provided the condom were manipulated between participants. Women inferred a committed relationshi…
Say you’ll be there: Associations between observed verbal responses, friendship quality, and perceptions of support in young adult friendships
Friendships are a primary source of social support during young adulthood; however, little is known about the factors associated with young adults feeling greater support during interactions with friends. We examined how micro-level verbal responses and macro-level judgments of friendship quality were associated with perceptions of support following an interaction between friends. Same-gender friend dyads ( N = 132; 66.2% female; 18–24 years, M a…
Seeing you, seeing me: Links between perceived commitment, metaperceptions, and relationship well‐being
Are perceiver's impressions of target's commitment associated with the target's relationship experience? Could target's metaperceptions (i.e., target's beliefs about the perceiver's impressions of the target) help explain why? In the present dyadic study ( N = 206; N couples = 103), we found that perceiver's impressions of target's commitment was positively related to target's relationship well‐being, and target's metaperceptions helped to accoun…
Strong but insecure: Examining the prevalence and correlates of insecure attachment bonds with attachment figures
This study examined whether people can be insecurely attached to figures who are actively sought out (and not just desired) to fulfill attachment functions and whether this has negative consequences for psychological well-being. A total of 122 participants rated 3-15 relational targets on measures including the extent to which the target fulfills important attachment functions and the attachment style characterizing the relationship. Participants…
Sexual attitudes and contraceptive behavior revisited: Can there be too much of a good thing
A longitudinal study was performed to explore a possible curvilinear relationship between sexual attitudes and contraceptive behavior. A community sample of 62 women recorded their sexual and contraceptive behavior for five consecutive weeks using daily diary reports. During an initial testing session, participants were asked to report their contraceptive behavior in the last month and to predict their contraceptive behavior for the coming month.…
Meaning-making with romantic partners: Shared reality promotes meaning in life by reducing uncertainty
5 = 389 participants). Taken together, this work suggests that shared reality with close partners has real-world benefits, reducing uncertainty and promoting meaning. In addition, we show that experimentally heightening shared reality, by reducing uncertainty, can promote a greater sense of meaning in life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Knowing What You Want: The Role of Relationship Clarity in Single Young Adults' Loneliness and Well-Being
The goal of the current study was to explore the role of relationship clarity-the extent to which someone understands what they want in a relationship-in single young adults' dating experiences. We hypothesized that for single individuals who are actively dating, lacking clearly defined dating goals may lead to greater loneliness and, in turn, account for decreased life satisfaction. We first validated the Relationship Clarity Scale (RCS) using d…
With or without you: Understanding friendship dissolution from childhood through young adulthood
Friendship plays a critical role in well-being across the lifespan, making it important to understand the dissolution of these relationships. Friendships end in many ways and for many reasons, which may result in different social and emotional outcomes. In this review, we examine the rapidly burgeoning literature on friendship dissolution from childhood through young adulthood, detailing current understanding of how common friendship dissolution …
Attitude and activity preference similarity: Differential bases of interpersonal attraction for low and high self-monitors
Une experience met a l'epreuve le role moderateur de la variable de personnalite degagee par Snyder dans la relation entre similarite et attraction, et dans la relation entre similarite de la preference d'activite et attraction interpersonnelle
Commitment in the face of adversity: A value-affirmation approach
In light of Brickmarfs (1987a) model of commitment, it is argued that adversity serves as a clear test of one's felt commitment. Furthermore, it is proposed that people feel especially committed to those experiences that they see as diagnostic of their values. Therefore, we hypothesized that self-relevant values (Steele, 1988) may be an antecedent variable that predicts commitment in the face of adversity. Study 1, a cross-sectional study of stud…
Pregnancy Decision Making: Predictors of Early Stress and Adjustment
Pregnancy decision making was examined among pregnant and nonpregnant women seeking pregnancy testing. The majority of women had decided upon and were certain of a decision to either abort or carry a possible pregnancy before learning the pregnancy-test results. Adjustment to pregnancy decision making was examined longitudinally among the women who tested positive for pregnancy. Pregnant participants were interviewed about their decisions to carr…
Women's Perceptions Of Female Contraceptive Behavior: Experimental Evidence of the Sexual Double Standard
A social perception study was conducted to examine the effect of the sexual double standard on impressions of a female target. As part of a “social memory” study, 57 female undergraduates read a fictitious woman's diary describing a sexual encounter where the woman provided a condom, the man provided a condom, or the couple had unprotected intercourse. Participants made behavioral judgments and interpersonal judgments about the couple, and rated …
Sexual attitudes and contraceptive behavior revisited: Can there be too much of a good thing
A longitudinal study was performed to explore a possible curvilinear relationship between sexual attitudes and contraceptive behavior. A community sample of 62 women recorded their sexual and contraceptive behavior for five consecutive weeks using daily diary reports. During an initial testing session, participants were asked to report their contraceptive behavior in the last month and to predict their contraceptive behavior for the coming month.…
Pregnancy decision making as a significant life event: A commitment approach
A value-laden basis for commitment to goals and the behavioral and affective sequelae of commitment were examined in the context of a stressful life event. Fifty-seven women who were interviewed during a clinic visit for a pregnancy test (Time 1 [T1]) subsequently received positive test results and were then interviewed 2 days later (Time 2 [T2]) and a month later (Time 3 [T3]). The intentionality and the meaning of the pregnancy were associated …
Commitment, Intimacy, and Women's Perceptions of Premarital Sex and Contraceptive Readiness
A person-perception study was conducted to examine the influence of intimacy and commitment on the acceptability of premarital sex and contraceptive preparedness. Ninety-six women rated a female target's personality and behavior after reading a diary entry describing a couple's initial sexual encounter. The nature of the couple's relationship and who provided the condom were manipulated between participants. Women inferred a committed relationshi…
The meaning of social interactions in the transition from acquaintanceship to friendship
The transition from acquaintanceship (nonunit) to friendship (unit) was conceptualized in terms of a preunit relationship. The authors theorized that in transitional relationships, discrete interactions are imbued with surplus meaning. Using a mental simulation procedure in 3 studies, participants randomly assigned to focus their attention on an exemplar from their social worlds representing unit, preunit, or nonunit same-sex relationships respon…
Coping with moral commitment to long-distance dating relationships
The uncertainty of relationship transitions should elicit more elaborate cognitive processing about one's relationship. As a result, reports of a type of relationship commitment distinctive from satisfaction-moral commitment-might be obtained from those about to begin long distance relationships. Students assessed prior to the academic year reported 2 types of commitment: moral and enthusiastic. Moral commitment was highly correlated with the mea…
Relational sexual scripts and women's condom use: The importance of internalized norms
Three studies were conducted to explore the impact of scripted sociosexual norms on women's contraceptive behavior. In Study 1, scripts of an initial sexual encounter written by 36 female and 30 male undergraduates were analyzed for relational orientation. Women portrayed the female character as more relational than the male character. Scripts including condom use were less relational than those without condom use. In Study 2, a Relational Ideal …
Priming relational schemas: Effects of contextually activated and chronically accessible interpersonal expectations on responses to a stressful event
The authors used a relational schemas approach to test the effects of interpersonal expectations on responses to a stressful event. In Study 1, a subliminal priming technique was used to demonstrate the causal influence of experimentally activated interpersonal expectations on affect, support seeking, and coping responses to a hypothetical unplanned pregnancy. Activation of positive interpersonal expectations increased reports of seeking emotiona…
Socio‐economic disparities in pregnancy outcome: Why do the poor fare so poorly?
In this paper, we review the evidence bearing on socio‐economic disparities in pregnancy outcome, focusing on aetiological factors mediating the disparities in intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and preterm birth. We first summarise what is known about the attributable determinants of IUGR and preterm birth, emphasising their quantitative contributions (aetiological fractions) from a public health perspective. We then review studies relating …
Socio‐economic disparities in preterm birth: Causal pathways and mechanisms
Preterm birth is the leading cause of infant mortality in industrialised societies. Its incidence is greatly increased among the socially disadvantaged, but the reasons for this excess are unclear and have been relatively unexplored. We hypothesise two distinct sets of causal pathways and mechanisms that may explain social disparities in preterm birth. The first set involves chronic and acute psychosocial stressors, psychological distress caused …
Global and specific relational models in the experience of social interactions
Two studies demonstrated that global and relationship-specific models of self and other are correlated but not redundant constructs. Relationship-specific models were operationalized in terms of significant role relationships (Study 1) and salient relationships (i.e., frequent interactions; Study 2). Longitudinal analyses (Study 1) suggested that specific models generalized to global ones over time and that global models had a small but significa…
Mind-set and close relationships: When bias leads to (in)accurate predictions
The authors investigated whether mind-set influences the accuracy of relationship predictions. Because people are more biased in their information processing when thinking about implementing an important goal, relationship predictions made in an implemental mind-set were expected to be less accurate than those made in a more impartial deliberative mind-set. In Study 1, open-ended thoughts of students about to leave for university were coded for m…
Bias and Accuracy in Close Relationships: An Integrative Review
Intimates typically are positively biased in their relationship evaluations. Given this fact, how can intimates regulate their esteem needs about their relationships and still function effectively, without risking later regret and disappointment? We address this issue by first reviewing work showing that because bias and accuracy are independent, they can co-exist. We next show how bias and accuracy are subject to different evaluative motives, re…
Commitment-motivated benign appraisals of partner transgressions: Do they facilitate accommodation
The current investigation examines the hypothesis that commitment predicts increasingly benign appraisals of partner transgressions and that this may in turn lead to greater accommodation. A survey of 226 students in heterosexual dating relationships was conducted. Commitment, the perceived severity of partner transgressions, and accommodation were assessed. Commitment was significantly associated with the discrepancy between participant severity…
Navigating the interdependence dilemma: Attachment goals and the use of communal norms with potential close others
Four studies investigated attachment in the context of new relationship development. Anxiously attached individuals overwhelmingly used communal norms and avoided using exchange norms when interacting with a potential close other; however, when a potential close other used communal norms, anxious individuals experienced increased interpersonal anxiety. Anxious individuals also used discrete communal behaviors to diagnose relationship potential. B…
The differential effects of intrinsic and identified motivation on well-being and performance: Prospective, experimental, and implicit approaches to self-determination theory
Self-determination theory research has demonstrated that intrinsic and identified self-regulations are associated with successful adaptation. However, few distinctions are typically made between these regulations and their outcomes. In the present studies, the associations between intrinsic and identified motivations and outcomes of psychological well-being and academic performance are compared in educational settings. In Study 1, intrinsic self-…
Relationship-specific attachment, risk regulation, and communal norm adherence in close relationships
If-then contingencies and the differential effects of the availability of an attractive alternative on relationship maintenance for men and women
In 7 experiments, the causal effects of the availability of an attractive alternative (AA) relationship partner on current relationship thoughts and intentions were tested using confederates, mental simulations, and virtual reality. Men behaved consistent with traditional relationship-commitment theories, showing decreased willingness to tolerate their partner's transgressions after the availability of an AA was made salient. However, consistent …
Attachment avoidance and commitment aversion: A script for relationship failure
Do avoidantly attached individuals, with fears of closeness and dependency, expect their relationships to fail? Moreover, do they expect specific events that will lead to failure? Canadian students outlined their expectations for a new romantic relationship by ordering a series of dating events using a card sorting procedure. Avoidance was associated with both expectations of relationship failure and commitment aversion (the absence of positive c…
A Little Reminder Is All It Takes: The Effects of Priming and Relational Self-construal on Responses to Partner Transgressions
When faced with a partner transgression, what causes an individual to avoid the temptation to respond in kind? We theorized that for those who incorporate their close relationships into their sense of self, priming a mental representation of their romantic partner would activate relationship-relevant cognitive–affective associations that would promote pro-relationship responding. Dating undergraduates (N = 140; 81 females) received either a partn…
Relationship-specific identification and spontaneous relationship maintenance processes
Attractive alternative partners pose a relational threat to people in romantic relationships. Given that people are often limited in their time and energy, having the capacity to effortlessly respond to such relational threats is extremely useful. In 4 studies, we explored how people's identity in terms of their romantic relationship--their relationship-specific identity--affects their relationship-protective behaviors. We predicted that once a r…
Uncovering and Overcoming Ambivalence: The Role of Chronic and Contextually Activated Attachment in Two‐Person Social Dilemmas
OBJECTIVE: Humans face an enduring conflict between desires to affiliate with others but to protect the self; effective social functioning often requires reconciling the resulting ambivalence between these motives. Attachment anxiety is characterized by chronically heightened concerns about affiliation and self-protection; we investigated how anxious individuals' chronic relational ambivalence affects interpersonal behavior. METHOD: We used the P…
Psychology (45 works) · Social Psychology (43 works) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics (35 works) · Developmental psychology (26 works) · Social Psychology (25 works) · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior (16 works) · Interpersonal relationship (10 works) · Behavioral Health and Interventions (9 works) · Medicine (9 works) · Romance (9 works)