Commitment, pro-relationship behavior, and trust in close relationships.

The present work advances and tests an interdependence-based model of the associations among commitment, pro-relationship behavior, and trust. Findings from two longitudinal studies revealed good support for model predictions. Commitment-inspired acts such as accommodation and willingness to sacrifice provide diagnostic information regarding a partner's pro-relationship motives. Individuals come to trust their partners when they perceive that their partners have enacted pro-relationship behaviors, departing from their direct self-interest for the good of the relationship. The results of mediation analyses are consistent with a model of mutual cyclical growth in which (a) dependence promotes strong commitment, (b) commitment promotes pro-relationship acts, (c) pro-relationship acts are perceived by the partner, (d) the perception of pro-relationship acts enhances the partner's trust, and (e) trust increases the partner's willingness to become dependent on the relationship. Auxiliary analyses revealed that self-reported attachment style does not account for substantial variance beyond the features of interdependence that form the basis for the present model.

Close partner as sculptor of the ideal self: behavioral affirmation and the Michelangelo phenomenon.

This work incorporates concepts from the behavioral confirmation tradition, self tradition, and interdependence tradition to identify an interpersonal process termed the Michelangelo phenomenon. The Michelangelo phenomenon describes the means by which the self is shaped by a close partner's perceptions and behavior. Specifically, self movement toward the ideal self is described as a product of partner affirmation, or the degree to which a partner's perceptions of the self and behavior toward the self are congruent with the self's ideal. The results of 4 studies revealed strong associations between perceived partner affirmation and self movement toward the ideal self, using a variety of participant populations and measurement methods. In addition, perceived partner affirmation--particularly perceived partner behavioral affirmation--was strongly associated with quality of couple functioning and stability in ongoing relationships.

When groups are more competitive than individuals: the domain of the discontinuity effect.

The related goals of the research were to delineate the domain of discontinuity, 1st by demonstrating its occurrence in a nonmatrix situation and, 2nd, by establishing the antecedent outcome conditions necessary for producing a discontinuity effect. The 1st goal was met by designing a mixed motive situation involving the production of origami products. Under these conditions, the magnitude of the discontinuity effect did not significantly differ from that in a matrix-only condition. The 2nd goal was met by a separate experiment that used H. H. Kelley and J. W. Thibaut's (1978) analysis of degree of noncorrespondence of outcomes. This experiment demonstrated that as noncorrespondence increased, so did the rate of competitive responding by groups but not by individuals. This pattern was qualified by an interaction with gender such that competitiveness was more markedly affected by noncorrespondence for groups of women than for groups of men.

Long-term outcome maximization and the reduction of interindividual-intergroup discontinuity.

Two experiments demonstrated that different procedures can be used to reduce the tendency for intergroup relations to be more competitive than interindividual relations. Experiment 1 revealed that this tendency was reduced when individual or group participants interacted with individual or group confederates who followed a tit-for-tat strategy as opposed to a Pavlov strategy or a standard control condition that did not involve confederates. Experiment 2 revealed that the tendency for groups to be more competitive than individuals was less pronounced with successive responding than with simultaneous responding. Further results indicated that the higher the total session score on the Consideration of Future Consequences Scale, the less the competition between groups. The results from both experiments were interpreted as indicating that intergroup competitiveness can be reduced by inducing a concern with long-term outcomes.