Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2011
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
Amy L. Gentzler.
Abstract
This study investigated positive event sharing (i.e., capitalization) in romantic relationships as well as partners' responses to participants' positive event sharing, and examined how each relates to attachment style and relationship satisfaction. Participants (aged 18--25, with 89 men and 95 women within 92 couples) completed online daily logs of positive events that occurred over a one week period, whether or not they shared those events with their romantic partners, and their reaction and their partners' reaction to those events. They also completed measures of attachment, their partner's general reactions to their positive event sharing, and support-seeking in a lab visit. Romantic partners reported on an online survey about how they responded to their partner's disclosure and also completed measures of attachment style and relationship satisfaction. Results indicated that perceived partner responses predicted participant's relationship satisfaction, even when controlling for support seeking. Participants who were low in attachment anxiety shared the most positive events over the course of the study, and also reported that partners responded in a more positive manner to their positive event sharing. Partner's self-reported responses were related to their gender and attachment, with women and those low in attachment anxiety and avoidance reporting more positive responses. Finally, participants' attachment avoidance was somewhat related to a higher discrepancy between participant and partner report for the same event. Results provide further support for the moderating role of attachment in capitalization (shown with avoidance; Hicks & Diamond, 2008), and also provide new evidence to suggest that attachment plays a crucial role in how partners actually respond when hearing a participants' positive event disclosure.
Recommended Citation
Morey, Jennifer N., "The Sharing of and Reactions to Positive Events in Romantic Relationships" (2011). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 3289.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/3289