Francesca Righetti
Biographic Data
| ID | 650473 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Francesca Righetti |
| GIVEN NAMES | Francesca |
| FAMILY NAME | Righetti |
| SIGNATURE | RIGHETTI F |
| AFFILIATIONS | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5126-1388 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 37 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 95 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 37 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Temporal Disorientation in Episodic Memory: Navigating the Construction Process
Temporal disorientation in episodic memory includes recalling episodes we struggle to posit in time. In this paper, we theorize how this disorientation arises by arguing for a constrained functional analogy between mental time travel and spatial navigation. We characterize temporal orientation as coordination between egocentric anchors and temporal structure (order, interval, and calendrical constraints); and, consequently, temporal disorientatio…
Remembering without (representational) memory: A neuro-computational study on regaining categoricity and compositionality from minimal traces
This paper provides a proof of principle for the philosophical theory of Trace Minimalism, a novel account of episodic memory. It claims that remembering goes without the storage of representational content in memory. Remembering rather consists in the construction of a representation of a scenario, previously experienced, through the interaction of minimal traces with acquired statistical regularities. A minimal trace merely constitutes a causal…
Just Not That Into You: Experiences of Indifference Toward a Romantic Partner
Theoretical work has proposed that people can have four different patterns of interpersonal evaluations: mostly positive, mostly negative, ambivalent (both positive and negative), and indifferent (neither positive nor negative). Notably, indifference has been largely overlooked by empirical research, despite growing evidence that indifferent feelings can occur in romantic relationships. To address this gap, we examined the associations of feeling…
Women Are Slightly More Sexually Satisfied in Their Romantic Relationships Than Men: An Integrative Data Analytic Approach
Loves me, loves me not: Perceived romantic partner’s ambivalence is associated with lower personal and relationship well-being
Romantic relationships can be rewarding and costly at the same time, making it no surprise that partners can often feel ambivalent (simultaneously positive and negative) feelings toward one another. Although research has shown that the individual who experiences ambivalence toward their romantic partner is likely to endure aversive effects, not much is known about how this ambivalence affects their partner, who is the target of the ambivalent fee…
Re-enactment and embodied resonance in episodic memory: Reconciling phenomenological approaches and constructive theories
This paper investigates the embodied dimensions of episodic memory through a phenomenological analysis. Contemporary philosophical theories understand episodic memory as a mental representation of a past event ‘happening in the head’. A philosophical account that seemingly supports an embodied understanding of episodic memory comes from phenomenology. Phenomenology has traditionally understood episodic memory in terms of presentification , which …
A Systematic Study of Ambivalence and Well-Being in Romantic Relationships
People in close relationships can, and often do, experience ambivalence (i.e., mixed feelings) toward their romantic partner. Although ambivalence is common and consequential, research on this phenomenon is fragmented. The present work examines how four different types of ambivalence (i.e., objective, subjective, implicit-explicit, and implicit ambivalence) relate to well-being. In four intensive studies ( N = 1,134) and internal meta-analyses, a…
It’s complicated: The good and bad of ambivalence in romantic relationships
People often feel mixed and conflicting feelings (i.e., ambivalence) toward their romantic partner. So far, research has primarily shown that ambivalence is linked to negative outcomes in relationships, but is this always true? Building off the affect, behavior, cognition model of ambivalence, the present work tests the idea that, when ambivalent, individuals can experience both positive and negative cognitive and behavioral responses toward thei…
Mixed signals: Romantic jealousy and ambivalence in relationships
Ambivalence (i.e., "mixed feelings") is a common and consequential experience in romantic relationships, but not much is known about which aspects of relationships are likely to elicit it. We investigated whether romantic jealousy (experienced by the individual and perceived in one's partner) is associated with stronger ambivalence toward the partner. Four studies ( N = 1,466; participants from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Nethe…
The pre-reflective roots of the madeleine-memory: A phenomenological perspective
This paper investigates the madeleine -memory (so-called from Proust's novel In Search of Lost Time ) as a case of pre-reflective experience, from the genesis of its sedimentation into the body. Indeed, I aim to address the question of the literary protagonist Marcel on the roots of his happiness and the genesis of his memories. Until now, the madeleine -memory has been described as bodily and involuntary. In phenomenology, a wide literature has …
Feeling loved as a strong link in relationship interactions: Partners who feel loved may buffer destructive behavior by actors who feel unloved
Feeling loved (loved, cared for, accepted, valued, understood) is inherently dyadic, yet most prior theoretical perspectives and investigations have focused on how actors feeling (un)loved shapes actors' outcomes. Adopting a dyadic perspective, the present research tested whether the established links between actors feeling unloved and destructive (critical, hostile) behavior depended on partners' feelings of being loved. Does feeling loved need …
Implicit Ambivalence: A Driving Force to Improve Relationship Problems
Implicit ambivalence involves holding strong positive and negative implicit evaluations toward the same object. This state is common in close relationships because even the most satisfying partnerships involve in conflicts and other frustrating experiences that can be explained away through effortful motivated reasoning yet remain in memory as mental representations involving the partner. In fact, it appears normative for implicit measures of par…
Self‐regulation in close relationships
In the past 20 years, greater attention has been devoted to the study of self‐regulation in an interpersonal context. This review summarize this work and presents findings on how self‐regulation processes influence close relationship outcomes. The review is organized around the four ingredients of self‐regulation (i.e., standards, monitoring, self‐regulatory capacity, and motivation). For each ingredient, we discuss their influence on relationshi…
Mixed and conflicted: The role of ambivalence in romantic relationships in light of attractive alternatives
People in romantic relationships tend to have positive feelings toward their partner and want their relationship to last. However, maintaining a romantic relationship over time is challenging, and people can often experience mixed and conflicting feelings (i.e., ambivalence) toward their significant other. While research has identified the serious consequences that ambivalence can have for personal and relational well-being, very little is known …
Relationship difficulties and "technoference" during the Covid-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has touched many aspects of people's lives around the world, including their romantic relationships. While media outlets have reported that the pandemic is difficult for couples, empirical evidence is needed to test these claims and understand why this may be. In two highly powered studies ( N = 3271) using repeated measure and longitudinal approaches, we found that people who experienced COVID-19 related challenges (i.e., l…
Coping with global uncertainty: Perceptions of Covid-19 psychological distress, relationship quality, and dyadic coping for romantic partners across 27 countries
Following the global outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, individuals report psychological distress associated with the "new normal"-social distancing, financial hardships, and increased responsibilities while working from home. Given the interpersonal nature of stress and coping responses between romantic partners, based on the systemic transactional model this study posits that perceived partner dyadic coping may be an important moderator betwee…
Taking Stock of Reality: Biased Perceptions of the Costs of Romantic Partners’ Sacrifices
When romantic partners sacrifice their own self-interest to benefit the relationship, the sacrificer or recipient may—for various reasons—be biased in how they perceive the costs that the sacrificer incurs. In Study 1, romantic couples ( N = 125) rated their own and their partner’s costs after a conversation about a sacrifice in the laboratory, followed by extensive experience sampling in their natural environment. In Study 2, a preregistered exp…
When and for Whom Implicit Partner Evaluations Predict Forgiveness
Recent work suggests that implicit partner evaluations have long-term implications for relationship success. However, little evidence shows whether and under which conditions implicit partner evaluations affect relationship maintenance processes in daily life, especially those exhibited in situations that may be highly decisive for the fate of the relationship, such as when partners hurt each other. Drawing upon dual-process theories, we predicte…
How Power Affects Emotional Communication During Relationship Conflicts: The Role of Perceived Partner Responsiveness
Prior research indicated that lack of power leads to emotional suppression and low emotional expression during conflicts among strangers. However, little is known about how power affects emotional inhibition in close relationships, where partners are highly interdependent, and achieving one’s goals greatly depends on their partner’s cooperation. In three studies among romantic couples (total N = 994), we examined whether (a) power is related to e…
Lightening the load: Perceived partner responsiveness fosters more positive appraisals of relational sacrifices
Romantic partners regularly sacrifice their own self-interest when partners' needs and preferences diverge. The present work examines the role of perceived partner responsiveness (PPR)-impressions that one's partner is understanding, caring, and validating-in positively shaping people's appraisals of their relational sacrifices. In Study 1, a preregistered experiment of romantically involved individuals ( N = 548), we manipulated PPR (high, low, …
Do people realize how their partners make them feel? Relationship enhancement motives and stress determine the link between implicitly assessed partner attitudes and relationship satisfaction
Do people realize the evaluative feelings that are spontaneously activated by their partner? If so, do they use those evaluations when judging their romantic relationships? To answer these questions, we investigated the association between automatic partner attitudes and judgments of relationship satisfaction in 7 studies. Study 1 was a meta-analysis of 86 correlations that revealed a very weak association between implicitly and explicitly assess…
Machine learning uncovers the most robust self-report predictors of relationship quality across 43 longitudinal couples studies
Significance What predicts how happy people are with their romantic relationships? Relationship science—an interdisciplinary field spanning psychology, sociology, economics, family studies, and communication—has identified hundreds of variables that purportedly shape romantic relationship quality. The current project used machine learning to directly quantify and compare the predictive power of many such variables among 11,196 romantic couples. P…
Fostering Attachment Security: The Role of Interdependent Situations
This work adopts an Interdependence Theory framework to investigate how the features of interdependent situations that couples face in their daily life (i.e., situations in which partners influence each other's outcomes) shape attachment security toward their current partners. An experience sampling study examined attachment tendencies and features of interdependent situations that people experience with their partner in daily life to predict sat…
Interdependence and cooperation in daily life
Philosophers and scientists have long debated the nature of human social interactions and the prevalence of mutual dependence, conflict of interests, and power asymmetry in social situations. Yet, there is surprisingly little empirical work documenting the patterns of interdependence that people experience in daily life. We use experience sampling to study how people think about 3 dimensions of interdependence in daily life and how these dimensio…
The link between sacrifice and relational and personal well-being: A meta-analysis
Prosocial behavior is often thought to bring benefits to individuals and relationships. Do such benefits exist when prosocial behavior is costly for the individual, such as when people are sacrificing for their partner or relationship? Although different theoretical accounts would predict that sacrifice is either positively or negatively associated with personal and relational well-being, empirical work in this regard has been inconclusive. We co…
Coping with global uncertainty: Perceptions of Covid-19 psychological distress, relationship quality, and dyadic coping for romantic partners across 27 countries
Following the global outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, individuals report psychological distress associated with the "new normal"-social distancing, financial hardships, and increased responsibilities while working from home. Given the interpersonal nature of stress and coping responses between romantic partners, based on the systemic transactional model this study posits that perceived partner dyadic coping may be an important moderator betwee…
If you are able to control yourself, I will trust you: The role of perceived self-control in interpersonal trust
The present research tested the hypothesis that perception of others' self-control is an indicator of their trustworthiness. The authors investigated whether, in interactions between strangers as well as in established relationships, people detect another person's self-control, and whether this perception of self-control, in turn, affects trust. Results of 4 experiments supported these hypotheses. The first 2 experiments revealed that participant…
The link between sacrifice and relational and personal well-being: A meta-analysis
Prosocial behavior is often thought to bring benefits to individuals and relationships. Do such benefits exist when prosocial behavior is costly for the individual, such as when people are sacrificing for their partner or relationship? Although different theoretical accounts would predict that sacrifice is either positively or negatively associated with personal and relational well-being, empirical work in this regard has been inconclusive. We co…
A nice surprise: Sacrifice expectations and partner appreciation in romantic relationships
Romantic partners regularly encounter conflicts of interests and sacrifice their self-interest for their partner or the relationship. But is this relationship maintenance behavior always appreciated by the partner receiving the sacrifice? We examined whether expectations of sacrifices (i.e., beliefs that sacrifices are necessary, normal, and expected in relationships) predict people's appreciation for their partner and, ultimately, their relation…
The benefits of interpersonal regulatory fit for individual goal pursuit
The present work examines whether individual goal pursuit is influenced by advice and suggestions from interaction partners whose regulatory orientation is perceived to fit (vs. not fit) the individual's orientation. We sought to investigate whether such interpersonal regulatory fit yields motivational consequences for goal pursuit that parallel those of intrapersonal regulatory fit. Furthermore, we investigated whether these effects occur in a s…
Relationship difficulties and "technoference" during the Covid-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has touched many aspects of people's lives around the world, including their romantic relationships. While media outlets have reported that the pandemic is difficult for couples, empirical evidence is needed to test these claims and understand why this may be. In two highly powered studies ( N = 3271) using repeated measure and longitudinal approaches, we found that people who experienced COVID-19 related challenges (i.e., l…
Interdependence and cooperation in daily life
Philosophers and scientists have long debated the nature of human social interactions and the prevalence of mutual dependence, conflict of interests, and power asymmetry in social situations. Yet, there is surprisingly little empirical work documenting the patterns of interdependence that people experience in daily life. We use experience sampling to study how people think about 3 dimensions of interdependence in daily life and how these dimensio…
Regulatory focus and the Michelangelo Phenomenon: How close partners promote one another's ideal selves
Do people realize how their partners make them feel? Relationship enhancement motives and stress determine the link between implicitly assessed partner attitudes and relationship satisfaction
Do people realize the evaluative feelings that are spontaneously activated by their partner? If so, do they use those evaluations when judging their romantic relationships? To answer these questions, we investigated the association between automatic partner attitudes and judgments of relationship satisfaction in 7 studies. Study 1 was a meta-analysis of 86 correlations that revealed a very weak association between implicitly and explicitly assess…
Lightening the load: Perceived partner responsiveness fosters more positive appraisals of relational sacrifices
Romantic partners regularly sacrifice their own self-interest when partners' needs and preferences diverge. The present work examines the role of perceived partner responsiveness (PPR)-impressions that one's partner is understanding, caring, and validating-in positively shaping people's appraisals of their relational sacrifices. In Study 1, a preregistered experiment of romantically involved individuals ( N = 548), we manipulated PPR (high, low, …
Regulatory focus and the Michelangelo Phenomenon: How close partners promote one another's ideal selves
A healthy dose of trust: The relationship between interpersonal trust and health
The positive effects of trust are manifold. Recent research has shown that trust levels may even influence physical health. The current work explores this issue and aims to shed light on the mechanisms underlying the relationship between trust and health in a 5‐wave longitudinal data set. Results showed that trust was positively related to physical health: Participants report fewer health problems when they trust their partner more, replicating e…
Understanding in close relationships: An interpersonal approach
Understanding plays a cardinal role in relationships. People desire and need to understand their relationship partners and, importantly, they need to feel understood by others in daily life. In this chapter we suggest that these needs are reflected in people's need to know and be known by others (understanding as knowledge) and their desire to be responsive to others' needs and experience others as responsive to their needs (understanding as resp…
If you are able to control yourself, I will trust you: The role of perceived self-control in interpersonal trust
The present research tested the hypothesis that perception of others' self-control is an indicator of their trustworthiness. The authors investigated whether, in interactions between strangers as well as in established relationships, people detect another person's self-control, and whether this perception of self-control, in turn, affects trust. Results of 4 experiments supported these hypotheses. The first 2 experiments revealed that participant…
The benefits of interpersonal regulatory fit for individual goal pursuit
The present work examines whether individual goal pursuit is influenced by advice and suggestions from interaction partners whose regulatory orientation is perceived to fit (vs. not fit) the individual's orientation. We sought to investigate whether such interpersonal regulatory fit yields motivational consequences for goal pursuit that parallel those of intrapersonal regulatory fit. Furthermore, we investigated whether these effects occur in a s…
The burden of empathy: Partners’ responses to divergence of interests in daily life
Empathy has often been discussed as a beneficial process from which favorable individual and interpersonal experiences may be derived. The present work investigates whether empathy may sometimes be a burden rather than a benefit, under certain interpersonal circumstances. Specifically, we hypothesized that encountering situations of divergence of interests with a partner may cause discomfort, and that empathizing with one's partner would exacerba…
Me or Us? Self-Control Promotes a Healthy Balance Between Personal and Relationship Concerns
Although romantic partners strive to achieve an optimal balance in fulfilling both personal and relational concerns, they are inevitably challenged by how much time and effort they can dedicate to both concerns. In the present work, we examined the role of self-control in successfully maintaining personal–relational balance through promoting balance and preventing personal and relational imbalance (overdedication to personal or relational concern…
It’s the motive that counts: Perceived sacrifice motives and gratitude in romantic relationships
Gratitude is robustly linked to many positive outcomes for individuals and relationships (e.g., greater life and relationship satisfaction). However, little is known about how romantic partners come to feel grateful for each other's pro-relational acts, such as when a partner makes a sacrifice. The present research examines how perceptions of partner sacrifice motives evoke gratitude. We distinguish between partner, relationship, and self-focused…
I Gave Too Much: Low Self-Esteem and the Regret of Sacrifices
Low self-esteem is often related to interpersonal difficulties. In fact, low self-esteem people fear rejection and tend to adopt self-protection goals. In the present work, we tested the idea that when low self-esteem individuals decide to sacrifice personal preferences for their relationship, they come to regret those actions, with further consequences for their well-being. We conducted a study with 130 couples, using experience sampling, daily …
Who does most of the work? High self‐control individuals compensate for low self‐control partners
Accomplishing goals with others can be troublesome. Some people may work extra hard while others do much less. When does this workload asymmetry occur? The present research investigates the role of perceived partners’ self-control in workload distribution. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that high self-control individuals work harder and compensate when they work together with low self-control partners. Results from two studies indicate th…
To “See” Is to Feel Grateful? A Quasi-Signal Detection Analysis of Romantic Partners’ Sacrifices
Although gratitude plays a central role in the quality of relationships, little is known about how gratitude emerges, such as in response to partners’ sacrifices. Do people need to accurately see these acts to feel grateful? In two daily experience studies of romantic couples (total N = 426), we used a quasi-signal detection paradigm to examine the prevalence and consequences of (in)accurately “seeing” and missing partners’ sacrifices. Findings c…
Machine learning uncovers the most robust self-report predictors of relationship quality across 43 longitudinal couples studies
Significance What predicts how happy people are with their romantic relationships? Relationship science—an interdisciplinary field spanning psychology, sociology, economics, family studies, and communication—has identified hundreds of variables that purportedly shape romantic relationship quality. The current project used machine learning to directly quantify and compare the predictive power of many such variables among 11,196 romantic couples. P…
Fostering Attachment Security: The Role of Interdependent Situations
This work adopts an Interdependence Theory framework to investigate how the features of interdependent situations that couples face in their daily life (i.e., situations in which partners influence each other's outcomes) shape attachment security toward their current partners. An experience sampling study examined attachment tendencies and features of interdependent situations that people experience with their partner in daily life to predict sat…
Interdependence and cooperation in daily life
Philosophers and scientists have long debated the nature of human social interactions and the prevalence of mutual dependence, conflict of interests, and power asymmetry in social situations. Yet, there is surprisingly little empirical work documenting the patterns of interdependence that people experience in daily life. We use experience sampling to study how people think about 3 dimensions of interdependence in daily life and how these dimensio…
The link between sacrifice and relational and personal well-being: A meta-analysis
Prosocial behavior is often thought to bring benefits to individuals and relationships. Do such benefits exist when prosocial behavior is costly for the individual, such as when people are sacrificing for their partner or relationship? Although different theoretical accounts would predict that sacrifice is either positively or negatively associated with personal and relational well-being, empirical work in this regard has been inconclusive. We co…
A nice surprise: Sacrifice expectations and partner appreciation in romantic relationships
Romantic partners regularly encounter conflicts of interests and sacrifice their self-interest for their partner or the relationship. But is this relationship maintenance behavior always appreciated by the partner receiving the sacrifice? We examined whether expectations of sacrifices (i.e., beliefs that sacrifices are necessary, normal, and expected in relationships) predict people's appreciation for their partner and, ultimately, their relation…
Taking Stock of Reality: Biased Perceptions of the Costs of Romantic Partners’ Sacrifices
When romantic partners sacrifice their own self-interest to benefit the relationship, the sacrificer or recipient may—for various reasons—be biased in how they perceive the costs that the sacrificer incurs. In Study 1, romantic couples ( N = 125) rated their own and their partner’s costs after a conversation about a sacrifice in the laboratory, followed by extensive experience sampling in their natural environment. In Study 2, a preregistered exp…
When and for Whom Implicit Partner Evaluations Predict Forgiveness
Recent work suggests that implicit partner evaluations have long-term implications for relationship success. However, little evidence shows whether and under which conditions implicit partner evaluations affect relationship maintenance processes in daily life, especially those exhibited in situations that may be highly decisive for the fate of the relationship, such as when partners hurt each other. Drawing upon dual-process theories, we predicte…
How Power Affects Emotional Communication During Relationship Conflicts: The Role of Perceived Partner Responsiveness
Prior research indicated that lack of power leads to emotional suppression and low emotional expression during conflicts among strangers. However, little is known about how power affects emotional inhibition in close relationships, where partners are highly interdependent, and achieving one’s goals greatly depends on their partner’s cooperation. In three studies among romantic couples (total N = 994), we examined whether (a) power is related to e…
Lightening the load: Perceived partner responsiveness fosters more positive appraisals of relational sacrifices
Romantic partners regularly sacrifice their own self-interest when partners' needs and preferences diverge. The present work examines the role of perceived partner responsiveness (PPR)-impressions that one's partner is understanding, caring, and validating-in positively shaping people's appraisals of their relational sacrifices. In Study 1, a preregistered experiment of romantically involved individuals ( N = 548), we manipulated PPR (high, low, …
Do people realize how their partners make them feel? Relationship enhancement motives and stress determine the link between implicitly assessed partner attitudes and relationship satisfaction
Do people realize the evaluative feelings that are spontaneously activated by their partner? If so, do they use those evaluations when judging their romantic relationships? To answer these questions, we investigated the association between automatic partner attitudes and judgments of relationship satisfaction in 7 studies. Study 1 was a meta-analysis of 86 correlations that revealed a very weak association between implicitly and explicitly assess…
Implicit Ambivalence: A Driving Force to Improve Relationship Problems
Implicit ambivalence involves holding strong positive and negative implicit evaluations toward the same object. This state is common in close relationships because even the most satisfying partnerships involve in conflicts and other frustrating experiences that can be explained away through effortful motivated reasoning yet remain in memory as mental representations involving the partner. In fact, it appears normative for implicit measures of par…
Self‐regulation in close relationships
In the past 20 years, greater attention has been devoted to the study of self‐regulation in an interpersonal context. This review summarize this work and presents findings on how self‐regulation processes influence close relationship outcomes. The review is organized around the four ingredients of self‐regulation (i.e., standards, monitoring, self‐regulatory capacity, and motivation). For each ingredient, we discuss their influence on relationshi…
Mixed and conflicted: The role of ambivalence in romantic relationships in light of attractive alternatives
People in romantic relationships tend to have positive feelings toward their partner and want their relationship to last. However, maintaining a romantic relationship over time is challenging, and people can often experience mixed and conflicting feelings (i.e., ambivalence) toward their significant other. While research has identified the serious consequences that ambivalence can have for personal and relational well-being, very little is known …
Relationship difficulties and "technoference" during the Covid-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has touched many aspects of people's lives around the world, including their romantic relationships. While media outlets have reported that the pandemic is difficult for couples, empirical evidence is needed to test these claims and understand why this may be. In two highly powered studies ( N = 3271) using repeated measure and longitudinal approaches, we found that people who experienced COVID-19 related challenges (i.e., l…
Psychology (34 works) · Social Psychology (29 works) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics (27 works) · Romance (14 works) · Social Psychology (13 works) · Behavioral Health and Interventions (11 works) · Developmental psychology (11 works) · Interpersonal communication (10 works) · Interpersonal relationship (10 works) · Psychoanalysis (10 works)