Developmental and Dyadic Perspectives on Commitment in Adult Romantic Relationships

We tested hypotheses concerning the developmental roots of becoming the "weak-link" (less committed) partner in adult romantic relationships and the associations between partners' absolute and relative levels of commitment and dyadic outcomes. We examined 78 target 20- to 21-year-olds...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological science 2011-07, Vol.22 (7), p.908-915
Main Authors: Oriña, M. Minda, Collins, W. Andrew, Simpson, Jeffry A., Salvatore, Jessica E., Haydon, Katherine C., Kim, John S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescence
Adults
Age
Biological and medical sciences
Caregivers
Commitment
Commitments
Conflict
Conflict resolution
Couple and family
Couples
Dating
Dyadics
Female
Friends - psychology
Friendship
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hostility
Humans
Interpersonal attraction
Interpersonal conflicts
Interpersonal Relations
Love
Male
Negotiating
Parenting
Parenting - psychology
Personal relationships
Personality Development
Problem solving
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Romantic relationships
Social interaction
Social interactions. Communication. Group processes
Social psychology
Social support
Young Adult
Young adults
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Summary:We tested hypotheses concerning the developmental roots of becoming the "weak-link" (less committed) partner in adult romantic relationships and the associations between partners' absolute and relative levels of commitment and dyadic outcomes. We examined 78 target 20- to 21-year-olds who were involved in a romantic relationship and who had been studied since birth. As predicted, people who received lower-quality support from caregivers in toddlerhood or who were less able to resolve conflicts with a best friend in midadolescence were more likely to become the weak-link partner in a romantic relationship at age 20 to 21. Furthermore, lower commitment on the part of the weak-link partner coupled with greater discrepancy in commitment between partners predicted a greater likelihood that the couple would display hostility (rated by observers) during a videotaped conflict-resolution task when they were 20 to 21 years old. These findings are discussed from developmental and dyadic perspectives.
ISSN:0956-7976
1467-9280
DOI:10.1177/0956797611410573