Modeling support provision in intimate relationships.

Abstract

Whereas supportive interactions are usually studied from the perspective of recipients alone, the authors used a dyadic design to incorporate the perspectives of both provider and recipient. In 2 daily diary studies, the authors modeled provider reports of support provision in intimate dyads over several weeks. The 1st involved couples experiencing daily stressors (n ϭ 79); the 2nd involved couples experiencing a major professional stressor (n ϭ 196). The authors hypothesized that factors relating to (a) recipients (their requests for support, moods, and stressful events), (b) providers (their moods and stressful events), (c) the relationship (relationship emotions and history of support exchanges), and (d) the stressor (daily vs. major stressors) would each predict daily support provision. Across both studies, characteristics of providers, recipients, and their relationship emerged as key predictors. Implications for theoretical models of dyadic support processes are discussed.Keywords: support provision, dyadic relationships, emotions, multilevel models, daily diary studies Social affiliation is considered to be a basic psychological need (Ryan & Deci, 2000), and a primary way adults fulfill this need is to form an intimate relationship with another person. Once formed, intimate relationships can be potent-and often primary-sources of emotional and practical support in times of stress. Indeed, it is common in social epidemiology to use marital status as a proxy measure of social support availability (e.g., Berkman & Breslow, 1983). The equation of marital status with social support has been justified by evidence that married people live longer, recover more quickly from mental and physical illnesses, and are less likely to engage in risk-taking behavior than those who are not married (for a review, see Coombs, 1991).Despite this evidence, there are indications that merely having an intimate partner does not imply that a person will receive effective support (Coyne & Bolger, 1990). Even when the support is well-intended, it can be inappropriate, untimely, or excessive (Coyne, Wortman, & Lehman, 1988). Further, when couples confront severe or chronic stressors, the partner may become overwhelmed and essentially incapable of being supportive. For example, in a study of breast cancer patients and their significant others Bolger, Foster, Vinokur, and Ng (1996) reported that the greater the patients' distress in the month immediately following diagnosis, the less likely their husbands provided support over the subsequent 6 months. This finding underscores the fact that support provision itself can be a variable process.To date, published studies on enacted support have usually focused on the perspective of the distressed, injured, or ill persons who are the recipients of the support (e.g., Neff & Karney, 2005;Sandler & Barrera, 1984;Sarason, Sarason, & Pierce, 1990). A second characteristic of the literature is that supportive acts are treated as causes rather than consequences, whether in naturalistic studies of so...

The limits of love: Predicting immediate versus sustained caring behaviors in close relationships

“…Past research has shown, for example, that positive relationship feelings predict caring behavior not only in laboratory experiments (Rusbult, Verette, Whitney, Slovik, & Lipkus, 1991;Tran & Simpson, 2009), but also in daily diary studies (Iida et al, 2008;Laurenceau, Barrett, & Rovine, 2005). On the surface, this would appear to be in conflict with the findings of the present studies, as daily behaviors seemingly fit in the long-term category.…”

“…On the one hand, there is empirical support for the idea that positive relationship feelings can motivate costly and effortful behavior on behalf of a loved one. Studies find that people with strong feelings of satisfaction in the relationship engage in more support-provision and partner-caregiving than do people who are less satisfied (Feeney & Collins, 2003;Iida, Seidman, Shrout, Fujita, & Bolger, 2008). Individuals who describe themselves as close and committed are more likely to feel empathy for a relationship partner and to forgive the partner when he or she transgresses (Finkel, Rusbult, Kumashiro, & Hannon, 2002).…”

Predicting Daily Satisfaction with Spouse Responses Among People with Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…The fact that spouses were not included in the current study is an important limitation, and future research is needed that includes both members of the dyad [58]. Although the current study included a comprehensive battery of variables shown to impact support satisfaction in past research, fatigue was measured only once.…”

Why Do Men Benefit More from Marriage Than Do Women? Thinking More Broadly About Interpersonal Processes That Occur Within and Outside of Marriage

“…Therefore one reason why marriage affords women less of a benefit than it affords men might well be that they need the marriage less than do men. They have more mutually supportive other relationships which provide opportunities to them both to be caring, which itself can generate better emotional states (Williamson and Clark 1989) and to be cared for (Iida et al 2008). Note that the existence of these other relationships can also partly explain why, following the death of a spouse, women seem to fare better than do men health-wise (Stroebe et al 2001).…”