Intra- and extra-dyadic perceptions of romantic relationships
Abstract
This study investigated the perceptions of a romantic relationship held by relationship participants (RP) and their friends. Four primary topics were investigated: (1) the extent to which RPs' perceptions of the state of their romance (e.g., commitment) were positively biased relative to their friends' perceptions, (2) the nature of RPs' disclosures to friends regarding their romances, (3) perceptions of friends' influences on RPs' thoughts regarding their romances, and (4) the relative extent to which RPs' and their friends' perceptions of the current state of the romantic relationship are able to predict the fate of that romance, as well as possible mechanisms underlying the predictive ability of these perceptions. Three hundred twenty-five romantically involved undergraduates and 340 of their friends participated in a four-wave longitudinal study. Participants initially completed measures assessing the state of the romance and a number of potentially relevant social skills. One month later, all participants completed measures assessing types of disclosure regarding the romantic relationship over the previous month as well as the extent to which friends influenced RPs' thoughts about their romance. Finally, RPs were contacted six months later to obtain the status of their romance (together vs. broken-up). Consistent with hypotheses, RPs perceived the state of their relationships as significantly more positive than their friends' perceptions. Furthermore, female RPs were found to disclose significantly more than male RPs, particularly to their female friends. Also, female RPs reported that their thoughts regarding their romance were particularly likely to be influenced by their female friends' thoughts. Importantly, levels of relationship ambivalence were found to be an important factor in the disclosure and influence processes. Finally, evidence was found for differential predictive ability of RPs' and friends' perceptions of the state of the romantic relationship, depending on both the target of the perceptions and the type of measure employed. However, RPs' illusions about their relationships as well as RPs' and friends' social skills (e.g., emotional expressiveness of RPs) did not moderate the predictive ability of these perceptions. The importance of these results is discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Agnew, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Social psychology|Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology
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