Seeking and Ensuring Interdependence: Desiring Commitment and the Strategic Initiation and Maintenance of Close Relationships

Abstract

The current research offers and examines the concept of commitment desirability, defined as the subjective desire to be involved in a committed romantic relationship at a given time. In pursuing their desire for a committed romance, how do individuals high in commitment desirability strategically ensure success? We suggest that high perceived partner commitment is sought by individuals who themselves desire to be involved in a committed relationship. In three studies involving individuals both currently involved and not involved in a relationship, we found support for the hypothesized interactive effect of commitment desirability and perceived partner commitment, such that greater commitment desirability was associated with more positive relationship outcomes, especially when partners were perceived to be high in commitment. The present research suggests that commitment desirability is a meaningful predictor of relationship attitudes and behaviors. Implications for understanding relationship commitment as well as future research directions are discussed.

Keywords

commitment commitment desirability close relationships relationship receptivity perceived partner commitment

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ackerman

J. M.

Griskevicius

N. P.

(2011). Let’s get serious: Communicating commitment in romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 1079-1094.

Agnew

C. R.

(2014, July). Relationship receptivity: Commitment in a changing world. Invited keynote address presented at the 2014 International Association of Relationship Research Conference, Melbourne, Australia.

Agnew

C. R.

Dove

(2011). Relationship commitment and perceptions of harm to self. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 33, 322-332.

Agnew

C. R.

Hadden

B. W.

Tan

. (2019a). It’s about time: Readiness, commitment and stability in close relationships. Social Psychological & Personality Science. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/1948550619829060

Agnew

C. R.

Hadden

B. W.

Tan

. (2019b). Relationship receptivity theory: Timing in close relationships. In VanderDrift

L. E.

Arriaga

X. B.

Agnew

C. R.

(Eds.), Interdependence, interaction, and close relationships. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Agnew

C. R.

VanderDrift

L. E.

(2018). Commitment processes in personal relationship. In Vangelisti

A. L.

Perlman

(Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of personal relationships (2nd ed., 437-448). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Aiken

L. S.

West

S. G.

(1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.

Arriaga

X. B.

Reed

J. T.

Goodfriend

Agnew

C. R.

(2006). Relationship perceptions and persistence: Do fluctuations in perceived partner commitment undermine dating relationships? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 1045-1065.

Baumeister

R. F.

DeWall

C. N.

Ciarocco

N. J.

Twenge

J. M.

(2005). Social exclusion impairs self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 589-604.

10.

Baumeister

R. F.

Leary

M. R.

(1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529.

11.

Brennan

K. A.

Clark

C. L.

Shaver

P. R.

(1998). Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In Simpson

J. A.

Rholes

W. S.

(Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46-76). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

12.

Day

M. V.

Kay

A. C.

Holmes

J. G.

Napier

J. L.

(2011). System justification and the defense of committed relationship ideology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 291-306.

13.

De Jong Gierveld

. (2002). The dilemma of repartnering: Considerations of older men and women entering new intimate relationships in later life. Ageing International, 27, 61-78.

14.

DePaulo

B. M.

Morris

W. L.

(2006). The unrecognized stereotyping and discrimination against singles. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 251-254.

15.

Descutner

C. J.

Thelen

M. H.

(1991). Development and validation of a fear of intimacy scale. Psychological Assessment, 3, 218-225.

16.

Emery

L. F.

(2014). Imagining the white picket fence: Social class, future plans, and romantic relationship quality. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5, 653-661.

17.

Finkel

E. J.

Eastwick

P. W.

(2008). Speed-dating. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 193-197.

18.

Fraley

R. C.

Heffernan

M. E.

Vicary

A. M.

Brumbaugh

C. C.

(2011). The Experiences in Close Relationships–Relationships Structures questionnaire: A method for assessing attachment orientations across relationships. Psychological Assessment, 23, 615-625.

19.

Girme

Y. U.

Agnew

C. R.

VanderDrift

L. E.

Harvey

S. M.

Rholes

W. S.

Simpson

J. A.

(2018). The ebbs and flows of attachment: Within-person variation in attachment undermine relationship wellbeing across time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 114, 397-421.

20.

Girme

Y. U.

Overall

N. C.

Faingataa

Sibley

C. G.

(2015). Happily single: The link between relationship status and well-being depends on avoidance and approach social goals. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 7, 122-130.

21.

Hadden

B. W.

Agnew

C. R.

Tan

(2018). Commitment readiness and relationship formation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44, 1242-1125.

22.

Hayes

A. F.

(2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

23.

Holmes

J. G.

Rempel

J. K.

(1989). Trust in close relationships. In Hendrick

(Ed.), Close relationships (pp. 187-220). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

24.

House

J. S.

Landis

K. R.

Umberson

(1988). Social relationships and health. Science, 241, 540-545.

25.

Agnew

C. R.

(2003). Commitment and its theorized determinants: A meta-analysis of the investment model. Personal Relationships, 10, 37-57.

26.

Leary

M. R.

Baumeister

R. F.

(2000). The nature and function of self-esteem: Sociometer theory. In Zanna

M. P.

(Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 32, pp. 1-62).San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

27.

N. P.

Bailey

J. M.

Kenrick

D. T.

Linsenmeier

J. A. W.

(2002). The necessities and luxuries of mate preferences: Testing the tradeoffs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 947-955.

28.

N. P.

Lim

A. J. Y.

Tsai

M. H. O. J

. (2015). Too materialistic to get married and have children? PLoS ONE, 10(5), e0126543.

29.

Manning

Brown

S. L.

(2011). The demography of unions among older Americans, 1980-present: A family change approach. In Settersten

R. A.

Angel

J. L.

(Eds.), Handbook of sociology and aging (pp. 193-210). New York, NY: Springer.

30.

Mikulincer

Shaver

(2007). Attachment in adulthood: Structure, dynamics and change. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

31.

Murray

S. L.

(1999). The quest for conviction: Motivated cognition in romantic relationships. Psychological Inquiry, 10, 23-34.

32.

Murray

S. L.

Holmes

J. G.

Collins

N. L.

(2006). Optimizing assurance: The risk regulation system in relationships. Psychological Bulletin, 5, 641-666.

33.

Murray

S. L.

Holmes

J. G.

Griffin

D. W.

(2000). Self-esteem and the quest for felt security: How perceived regard regulates attachment processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 478-498.

34.

Murray

S. L.

Holmes

J. G.

MacDonald

Ellsworth

P. C.

(1998). Through the looking glass darkly? When self-doubts turn into relationship insecurities. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1459-1480.

35.

Overall

N. C.

Fletcher

G. J.

Simpson

J. A.

(2006). Regulation processes in intimate relationships: The role of ideal standards. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 662-685.

36.

Owen

Rhoades

Shuck

Fincham

F. D.

Stanley

Markman

Knopp

(2014). Commitment uncertainty: A theoretical overview. Couple & Family Psychology: Research & Practice, 3, 207-219.

37.

Penner

A. M.

Saperstein

(2008). How social status shapes race. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105, 19628-19630.

38.

Pillsworth

E. G.

Haselton

M. G.

(2005). The evolution of coupling. Psychological Inquiry, 16, 98-104.

39.

Reis

H. T.

Clark

M. S.

Holmes

J. G.

(2004). Perceived partner responsiveness as an organizing construct in the study of intimacy and closeness. In Mashek

Aron

(Eds.), The handbook of closeness and intimacy (pp. 201-225). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

40.

Rusbult

C. E.

Agnew

C. R.

(2010). Prosocial motivation and behavior in close relationships. In Mikulincer

Shaver

P. R.

(Eds.), Prosocial motives, emotions, and behavior (pp. 327-345). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

41.

Rusbult

C. E.

Buunk

B. P.

(1993). Commitment processes in close relationships: An interdependence analysis. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 10, 175-204.

42.

Rusbult

C. E.

Martz

J. M.

Agnew

C. R.

(1998). The Investment Model Scale: Measuring commitment level, satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. Personal Relationships, 5, 357-391.

43.

Rusbult

C. E.

Van Lange

P. A. M.

(1996). Interdependence processes. In Higgins

E. T.

Kruglanski

(Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (pp. 564-596). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

44.

Simpson

J. A.

Collins

W. A.

Salvatore

J. E.

(2011). The impact of early interpersonal experience on adult romantic relationship functioning: Recent findings from the Minnesota longitudinal study of risk and adaptation. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 355-359.

45.

Simpson

J. A.

Gangestad

S. W.

(1991). Individual differences in sociosexuality: Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 870-883.

46.

Sng

Neuberg

S. L.

Varnum

M. E. W.

Kenrick

D. T.

(2017). The crowded life is a slow life: Population density and life history strategy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 112, 736-754.

47.

Spielmann

S. S.

MacDonald

Maxwell

J. A.

Joel

Peragine

Muise

Impett

E. A.

(2013). Settling for less out of fear of being single. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105, 1049-1073.

48.

Spielmann

S. S.

MacDonald

Tackett

J. L.

(2012). Social threat, social reward, and regulation of investment in romantic relationships. Personal Relationships, 19, 601-622.

49.

Tan

Agnew

C. R.

(2016). Ease of retrieval effects on relationship commitment: The role of future plans. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 42, 161-171.

50.

Tan

Agnew

C. R.

VanderDrift

L. E.

Harvey

S. M.

(2015). Committed to us: Predicting relationship closeness following nonmarital romantic relationship breakup. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 32, 456-471.

51.

VanderDrift

L. E.

Agnew

C. R.

Wilson

J. E.

(2009). Non-marital romantic relationship commitment and leave behavior: The mediating role of dissolution consideration. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 1220-1232.

52.

VanderDrift

L. E.

Lehmiller

J. J.

Kelly

J. R.

(2012). Commitment in friends with benefits relationships: Implications for relational and safe-sex outcomes. Personal Relationships, 19, 1-13.

53.

Van Lange

P. A. M.

Otten

De Bruin

E. M.

Joireman

J. A

. (1997). Development of prosocial individualistic, and competitive orientations: Theory and preliminary evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 733-746.

54.

West

T. V.

Kenny

D. A.

(2011). The truth and bias model of judgment. Psychological Review, 118, 357-378.

55.

Wieselquist

Rusbult

C. E.

Foster

C. A.

Agnew

C. R.

(1999). Commitment, pro-relationship behavior, and trust in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 942-966.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.19 MB

0.11 MB