The Role of Individual and Dyadic Planning in Couples’ Daily Goal Pursuits

Abstract

Planning promotes progress toward goal achievement in a wide range of domains. To date, planning has mostly been studied as an individual process. In couples, however, the partner is likely to play an important role in planning. This study tested the effects of individual and dyadic planning on goal progress and goal-related actions. Two samples of couples ( N = 76 and N = 87) completed daily diaries over a period of 28 and 21 days. The results indicate that individual and dyadic planning fluctuate on a daily basis and support the idea that dyadic planning is predominantly used as a complementary strategy to individual planning. As expected, individual and dyadic planning were positively associated with higher levels of action control and goal progress. In Sample 2, dyadic planning was only associated with goal progress on days in which individuals felt that they were dependent upon their partners’ behaviors to achieve their goals.

Responsiveness processes and daily experiences of shared reality among romantic couples

“…The data and materials used in the research are available at: https://osf.io/gqck2/ Notes 1. Data from this project were used by Katzenelenbogen et al (2021). However, none of the measures used in the current study were implemented in Katzenelenbogen et al 2.…”

The interpersonal benefits of goal adjustment capacities: the sample case of coping with poor sleep in couples

“…To date, research has only examined goal adjustment capacities at the level of the individual. However, a growing body of research highlights the importance of considering romantic partners in goal-related processes (e.g., Feeney, 2004 ; Gere and Impett, 2018 ; Holding et al, 2020 ; Katzenelenbogen et al, 2021 ; Zambrano et al, 2022 ). Further, existing dyadic frameworks underscore the interpersonal nature of stress and coping (Lindau et al, 2003 ; Berg and Upchurch, 2007 ; DeLongis et al, 2010 ; Helgeson et al, 2018 ).…”