Research

Expressivity in close relationships

To develop intimacy and closeness, people must express their thoughts and feelings and receive responses that they perceive as understanding and caring (Reis & Shaver, 1988). However, there are many ways in which people’s expressivity can go awry. In this area of research, we examine when and how expressive tendencies, including limiting expressivity and expressing negativity, can undermine relationship success. We seek to answer questions such as: What factors influence the depth and content of people’s disclosures to their relationship partners? What are the interpersonal consequences of different types of expressivity, in face-to-face interactions and on social media? When can negatively-valenced expressivity lead to positive interpersonal outcomes? How can people reap the potential personal (e.g., health) and relational (e.g., intimacy) benefits of expressing negative emotions without burdening their partners or harming their relationships? How can people (“support seekers”) elicit support from others in times of distress? Under what conditions do particular expressive/support-seeking behaviors enhance versus undermine support receipt?

relationship maintenance in the face of threat

To maintain romantic relationships over time, couples must overcome threats that arise from external sources. Our work in this area examines people’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to external relationship threats, including the threats posed by romantic alternatives and romantic rivals, and threats that are perceived as a result of one’s own somatic experiences. In several projects, we have been examining how commitment modulates people’s behavior toward romantic alternatives—people who threaten ongoing relationships because they could be tempting alternative partners for oneself. We are investigating how people protect their relationships through behaviors such as regulating their own self-presentation and prosocial acts, as well as through their dyadic displays on social media. In other work, we are examining how people regulate their responsiveness toward their partners in contexts involving romantic rivals.

Instrumentality in Close Relationships

We are also interested in how people can build and maintain satisfying relationships through instrumentality—that is, by serving as means to one another’s goals. We and our collaborators have been investigating how partners’ facilitation of one another’s goal pursuits contributes to feelings of closeness, and considering the implications of a people-as-means to goals account of close relationships for a variety of relationship processes and outcomes.