A Test of Positive Illusions Versus Shared Reality Models of Relationship Satisfaction Among Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Couples

Abstract

According to the positive illusions model (Murray, Holmes, & Griffin, 1996a), people in romantic relationships are more satisfied when they view their partners more favorably than the partners see themselves. By contrast, shared reality theory (Hardin & Conley, 2001) emphasizes the benefits of perceiving a partner as the partner sees himself or herself. We analyzed archived data from the American Couples Study (Blumstein & Schwartz, 1983) to test the applicability of the positive illusions model to gay and lesbian relationships. Structural equation models demonstrated that the positive illusions model effectively explains relationships among lesbian, gay, heterosexual cohabitating, and married couples.

Relationship Maintenance: A Review of Research on Romantic Relationships

“…Idealization and positive illusions are positively related to satisfaction of individuals in different-sex (Murray et al, 1996a(Murray et al, , 1996b and same-sex (Conley, Roesch, Peplau, & Gold, 2009) relationships, commitment (Rusbult et al, 2001), and love (Miller, Niehuis, & Huston, 2006) in cross-sectional studies. Longitudinal evidence shows that illusory beliefs are related to lower levels of breakup (Le et al, 2010;Murray et al, 1996b) and changes in love (Miller et al, 2006).…”

Analysis of group composition in multimember multigroup data

“…The 2M3G APIM is designed for 2M3G data. Typical examples are gay, lesbian, and heterosexual couples (e.g., Conley, Roesch, Peplau, & Gold, ) or male, female, and mixed‐gender dizygotic twins. The key of this model is that there is a dichotomous group variable measured in each dyad member, which is gender in gay, lesbian, and heterosexual couples and male, female, and mixed‐gender twins.…”

Sexual similarity, complementarity, accuracy, and overperception in same‐sex couples

“…To the best of our knowledge, a study by Conley and colleagues () is the sole study of partner accuracy among same‐sex couples. Conley and colleagues speculated that due to stigmatization (Lehmiller & Agnew, , ), gay and lesbian partners may value authenticity and accurate knowledge of each other more than they value uninformed positivity.…”

“…Moreover, the strength of these illusions predicted the overperceivers' sexual satisfaction. Conley and colleagues () found that among gay men and lesbians (as well as among heterosexuals), people tended to view their partners more positively than the partners viewed themselves, and people who idealized their partners were more satisfied in their relationships. By examining the role of positive illusions in an understudied population, this study addresses an important gap in the literature.…”

“…At the same time, motivated processes also influence partner perception. Numerous studies of heterosexual couples suggest that people are motivated to see their partners in ways that promote feeling secure and committed (e.g., Murray, Holmes, Bellavia, Griffin, & Dolderman, 2002); however, we are only aware of one study of motivated perception among same-sex partners, and this study did not concern sex (Conley, Roesch, Peplau, & Gold, 2009).…”