The Role of Relational Entitlement, Self-Disclosure and Perceived Partner Responsiveness in Predicting Couple Satisfaction: A Daily-Diary Study

Abstract

Recent research has investigated how the sense of relational entitlement (SRE, the extent to which a person expects that his/her needs and wishes will be fulfilled by the romantic partner) diminishes couple satisfaction, but little is known about how SRE affects the daily quality of close, romantic relationships. Moreover, the evidence on how SRE interacts with other features of a satisfying relationship (such as the variables of the interpersonal process model of relationships—self-disclosure, perceived partner disclosure, and perceived partner responsiveness) is scarce. Using an electronic daily diary, we examined 99 couples (198 participants) for 7 days, with two daily measurements for each partner. We used a dyadic double intercept multilevel model, which simultaneously computes effects for men and women. We tested a model where one partner's daily couple satisfaction was predicted by their overall levels of SRE (excessive, restricted, and assertive) and by their daily and overall levels of self-disclosure, perceived partner self-disclosure, and perceived partner responsiveness. The model also included person-level interactions and cross-level interactions between the SRE types and variables of the interpersonal process model of relationships for each gender. The analysis indicated that person-level excessive SRE lowers couple satisfaction. Also, day and person-level perceived partner responsiveness and person-level self-disclosure are related to couple satisfaction, but the latter association is significant only for men. Finally, we found some significant person-level interactions that account for changes in couple satisfaction. For men, the links between couple satisfaction, excessive and restricted SRE were moderated by self-disclosure and perceived partner responsiveness, respectively, perceived partner self-disclosure and perceived partner responsiveness. For women, the associations between couple satisfaction, restricted and assertive SRE were moderated by self-disclosure, respectively, perceived partner self-disclosure. This study advances our understanding of the general implications of SRE in the dynamics of couple relationships. More specifically, it shows how SRE interacts with other couple-specific variables in shaping day-to-day couple satisfaction. The theoretical and clinical implications for couple therapy are discussed.

The Link between Parenting Behaviors and Emerging Adults’ Relationship Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Relational Entitlement

“…By acting like their children are (at least partially) responsible for their behavior and supporting their autonomy, parents help their children to become self-efficient in solving some of their problems rather than believing they deserve special treatment from those around them [ 16 , 49 ]. While the relationship between parental autonomy-supportive behaviors and excessive relational entitlement was firstly established by this study, the results also confirmed previous findings linking excessive entitlement, lower relational satisfaction, and higher couple conflict [ 17 , 33 ]. One study found that entitlement inflates self-image goals and that this selfish agenda leads to potential interpersonal conflict [ 35 ].…”

“…A second goal of the study is to test a possible mediator of the proposed relationships. Previous studies show that psychological entitlement is related to both parenting and relational outcomes [ 15 , 16 , 17 ]; thus, this study introduces the form of entitlement most specific to the romantic domain, the sense of relational entitlement [ 18 ].…”

“…On the contrary, the associations between relational entitlement and relational satisfaction were established by more studies. Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental studies showed that both forms of relational entitlement (excessive and restricted) have significant and negative associations with the quality of one’s relationship, with the link between excessive entitlement and satisfaction being stronger [ 17 , 32 , 33 ]. Finally, more excessive psychological entitlement is related to higher levels of conflict in interpersonal and romantic relationships [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ].…”

Post-traumatic Growth: The Roles of the Sense of Entitlement, Gratitude and hope

“…The conceptualization of this multidimensional construct highlights its maladaptive and adaptive aspects. It can be either detrimental or beneficial to well-being and relationships (Candel & Turliuc, 2017), as it can lead to both functional and negative consequences (e.g., Neville & Fisk 2019;Fisk, 2010). Past research suggests that individuals with a high sense of entitlement expect to receive help, services, and resources to meet their needs (Żemojtel-Piotrowska et al, 2017).…”

Refining the Assessment of Entitlement in Romantic Relationships: The Sense of Relational Entitlement Scale—Revised (SRE-R)

“…These items are: “I won’t make do with less than what I deserve in a couple relationship” (item 7); “I insist on getting what I deserve in my relationship” (item 30); “I am unable to make compromises in choosing a partner” (item 19); “I think my partner is lucky to be with me” (item 28); “I deserve to get in my relationship things I was deprived in prior relationships” (item 25), and “I deserve a partner who is very sensitive” (item 18). Two recent studies by Candel and Turliuc (2019 , 2021) failed to find a consistent pattern of associations between assertive sense of relational entitlement and other relational indices, supporting Tolmacz and Mikulincer (2011) concern about the assertive subscale.…”