A People-As-Means Approach to Interpersonal Relationships

Abstract

Interpersonal relationships and goal pursuit are intimately interconnected. In the present paper, we present a people-as-means perspective on relationships. According to this perspective, people serve as means to goals-helping other people to reach their goals in a variety of ways, such as by contributing their time, lending their knowledge, skills, and resources, and providing emotional support and encouragement. Because people serve as means to goals, we propose that considering relationship processes in terms of the principles of goal pursuit can provide novel and important insights into the ways that people think, feel, and behave in these interpersonal contexts. We describe the principles of means-goals relations, review evidence for each principle involving people as means, and discuss implications of our approach for relationship formation, maintenance, and dissolution. for relationship processes? In the pages that follow, we present a people-as-means approach to interpersonal relationships, summarize evidence linking principles of goal pursuit to instances in which people are means, and discuss the novel insights gained from adopting a people-as meansperspective on relationships.

Interpersonal pursuit of intrapersonal health goals: Social cognitive–motivational mechanisms by which social support promotes self‐regulatory success

“…During the action and post‐action phases, individuals may find their personal resources of self‐control and willpower limited. In such cases, social support can bolster personal means and capital (e.g., Orehek, Forest, & Barbaro, ). Social support can offer individuals the ability to offload work to their social network, reducing personal costs that could otherwise hamper goal‐promoting action (Gross & Proffitt, ).…”

“…During the action and post-action phases, individuals may find their personal resources of self-control and willpower limited. In such cases, social support can bolster personal means and capital (e.g., Orehek, Forest, & Barbaro, 2018).…”

Support gaps in parent‐emerging adult dyads: The role of support quality

“…If parents are highly involved in the coping process through support provision, children's reactions to parental support could impact parents’ personal and relational well‐being. Furthermore, support providers typically want their supportive efforts to be helpful and appreciated by the support recipients (Inagaki & Orehek, ; Orehek, Forest, & Barbaro, ). Being able to offer effective help to others may heighten the helpers’ self‐esteem and perceived self‐worth (Gruenewald, Liao, & Seeman, ), strengthen the relationships with the support recipients (Inagaki & Orehek, ), and even reduce stress of the helpers (Inagaki & Eisenberger, ).…”

“…Being able to offer effective help to others may heighten the helpers’ self‐esteem and perceived self‐worth (Gruenewald, Liao, & Seeman, ), strengthen the relationships with the support recipients (Inagaki & Orehek, ), and even reduce stress of the helpers (Inagaki & Eisenberger, ). In contrast, if the support provided is not well received or is perceived as unhelpful to support recipients, the supportive interaction can elicit negative feelings of the support providers, discouraging future support provision (Cheuk & Rosen, ; Joiner, ) or decreasing the providers’ self‐esteem (Orehek et al, ).…”

“…In the case of received–desired support gaps, if children's negative reaction or a lack of improved condition causes parents to negatively evaluate their supportive efforts (RQ2), which may then cause parents to experience reduced self‐worth, self‐esteem, and satisfaction with parent–child relationships (Inagaki & Orehek, ; Orehek et al, ), parents’ evaluations of support quality may mediate the associations between support gaps and parents’ outcomes. Finally, how may a support provider's evaluation of the quality of support he or she has provided affect the support recipient's outcomes?…”