[paper] A Systematic Study of Ambivalence and Well-Being in Romantic Relationships

[Iris K. Schneider]

Hi all, this has been out for a bit, but it might not be on the radar. This is done by Giulia Zoppolat - who analyzed four studies comparing the relationship of different ambivalence measures with outcomes in romantic relationships. The short of it is that subjective ambivalence seems to have the most impact - the abstract below and the paper attached!

Iris. 

Abstract
People in close relationships can, and often do, experience ambivalence (i.e., mixed feelings) toward their romantic partner. Although ambivalence is common and consequential, research on this phenomenon is fragmented. The present work examines how four different types of ambivalence (i.e., objective, subjective, implicit-explicit, and implicit ambivalence) relate to well-being. In four intensive studies (N = 1,134) and internal meta-analyses, ambivalence was related to lower personal and relational well- being, but this association was only statistically significant for explicit (i.e., objective and subjective) types of ambivalence, with subjective ambivalence showing the strongest association, particularly for relationship outcomes. This work is the first systematic study of ambivalence and well-being in relationships and highlights the importance of capturing mixed feelings in relationship research and how such focus can benefit research on attitudinal ambivalence and well-being more broadly.

Keywords
ambivalence, mixed emotions, automatic processes, attitudes, romantic relationships, well-being

[Geoff Haddock]

Hello everyone. Iris' email reminded me that I have not posted to this forum a recent JESP paper my Ruiqing Han, Travis Proulx, Frenk van Harreveld and myself.  The paper describes a set of studies examining how we evaluate individuals who are or are not dispositionally ambivalent.

Best, Geoff

ABSTRACT: While research has studied the consequences of being ambivalent about a single attitude object, we know little about how dispositionally ambivalent and non-ambivalent targets are perceived. Across six experiments we examined how people perceive and mentally represent dispositionally ambivalent and non-ambivalent others, and how people expect to interact with dispositionally ambivalent and non-ambivalent targets. Experiment 1 demonstrated that a non-ambivalent target was expected to share fewer resources relative to ambivalent targets. Using a reverse correlation paradigm, Experiment 2 demonstrated that people have different mental representations of dispositionally ambivalent and non-ambivalent targets, who were evaluated differently on a range of outcomes. Experiment 3 demonstrated that participants could link descriptions of attitudinal ambivalence to representations of dispositionally ambivalent and non-ambivalent faces. Experiment 4 demonstrated that a non-ambivalent target was perceived as most likely to be unfair to others. Experiment 5 demonstrated that representations of dispositionally ambivalent and non-ambivalent targets influenced perceptions of the targets’ values, willingness to help others, and suitability for looking after a sick relative. Experiment 6 replicated Experiment 5, using verbal descriptions of targets’ ambivalence. Across experiments, warmth and competence mediated effects of dispositional ambivalence on outcomes. Overall, dispositionally ambivalent and non-ambivalent targets are perceived differently, and a target’s inferred dispositional ambivalence influences how they are evaluated.

Professor Geoff Haddock

School of Psychology
Cardiff University
70 Park Place
Cardiff
CF10 3AT

Email: hadd...@cardiff.ac.uk

http://psych.cf.ac.uk/contactsandpeople/academics/haddock.php

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/attitude-check

https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/the-psychology-of-attitudes-and-attitude-change/book257922

 

Yr Athro Geoff Haddock

Yr Ysgol Seicoleg
Prifysgol Caerdydd
70 Plas-y-Parc
Caerdydd
CF10 3AT

E-bost: hadd...@Cardiff.ac.uk

http://psych.cf.ac.uk/contactsandpeople/academics/haddock.php

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/attitude-check

https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/the-psychology-of-attitudes-and-attitude-change/book257922

The University welcomes correspondence in Welsh or English

 

My pronouns are He/Him 

Fy rhagenwau i yw Fe/Ef 

---

From: ambiv...@googlegroups.com <ambiv...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Iris K. Schneider <schnei...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2024 19:56
To: Ambivalence Research Collective <ambiv...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [arc] [paper] A Systematic Study of Ambivalence and Well-Being in Romantic Relationships

 

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