An examination of the tripartite approach to commitment: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model Analysis of the effect of relational maintenance behavior
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online December, 2008
An examination of the tripartite approach to commitment: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model Analysis of the effect of relational maintenance behavior
A consistently reported finding is that indicators of relationship quality reflect a strong association with relational maintenance behaviors (Stafford, 2002). The present study conceptualized one such indicator, commitment, as a multidimensional, tripartite phenomenon (Johnson, 1991, 1999) to examine its persistent association with maintenance behaviors over two time periods. Using an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model Analysis (APIM; Kashy & Kenny, 2000), the overall results revealed that actors' and partners' experience of personal commitment at time 2 was significantly associated with maintenance strategy use reported at time 1. Whereas the analysis of moral commitment showed a similar pattern of actor effects, the partner effects suggest spouses' experience of moral commitment may be more strongly connected to their partners' use of maintenance behavior than that of personal commitment. However, analysis of actors' and partners' experience of structural commitment revealed few significant associations with relational maintenance. Implications for the tripartite approach and relationship maintenance are discussed.
Adams, J.M., & Jones, W.H. (1997). The conceptualization of marital commitment: An integrative analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 72, 1177-1196.
2.
Adams, J. M., & Jones, W. H. (Eds.). (1999). Handbook of interpersonal commitment and relationship stability. New York: Plenum Press.
3.
Aron, A., Aron, E.N., & Smollan, D. (1992). Inclusion of other in self scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 596-612.
4.
Arriaga, X.B., & Agnew, C.R. (2001). Being committed: Affective, cognitive, and conative components of relationship commitment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1190-1203.
5.
Ballard-Reisch, D.S., & Weigel, D.J. (1999). Communication processes in marital commitment: An integrative approach. In J. M. Adams & W. H. Jones (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal commitment and relationship stability (pp. 407-424). New York: Plenum.
6.
Campbell, L., Simpson, J.A., Kashy, D.A., & Rholes, W.S. (2001). Attachment orientations, dependence, and behavior in a stressful situation: An application of the actor-partner interdependence model. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 18, 821-843.
7.
Canary, D.J., & Dainton, M. (2002). Maintaining relationships through communication: Relational, contextual, and cultural variations. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
8.
Canary, D.J., & Stafford, L. (1992). Relational maintenance strategies and equity in marriage. Communication Monographs, 59, 243-267.
9.
Canary, D.J., & Stafford, L. (1994). Maintaining relationships through strategic and routine interaction. In D. J. Canary & L. Stafford (Eds.), Communication and relational maintenance (pp. 3-22). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
10.
Canary, D.J., Stafford, L., Semic, B.A. (2002). A panel study of the associations between maintenance strategies and relational characteristics. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 64, 395-406.
11.
Caughlin, J.P., & Golish, T.D. (2002). An analysis of the association between topic avoidance and dissatisfaction: Comparing perceptual and interpersonal explanations. Communicataion Monographs, 69, 275-295.
12.
Cook, W.L., & Kenny, D.A. (2005). The actor-partner interdependence model: A model of bilateral effects in developmental studies. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 29, 101-109.
13.
Cook, W.L., & Snyder, D.K. (2005). Analyzing non-independent outcomes in couple therapy using the actor-partner interdependence model. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, 133-141.
14.
Dainton, M., & Aylor, B. (2002). Routine and strategic maintenance efforts: Behavioral patterns, variations associated with relational length, and the prediction of relational characteristics. Communication Monographs, 69, 52-66.
15.
Dindia, K. (2000). Relational maintenance. In C. Hendrick & S. S. Hendrick (Eds.), Close relationships: A sourcebook (pp. 287-300). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
16.
Fehr, B. (1988). Prototype analysis of the concepts of love and commitment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 557-579
17.
Givertz, M., & Segrin, C. (2005). Explaining personal and constraint commitment in close relationships: The role of satisfaction, conflict responses, and relational bond. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships , 22, 757-775.
18.
Gottman, J.M. (1994). What predicts divorce?: The relationship between marital processes and marital outcomes. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
19.
Gottman, J.M., & Levenson, R.W. (2000). The timing of divorce: Predicting when a couple will divorce over a 14-year period. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 737-745.
20.
Huston, T.L., Caughlin, J.P., Houts, R.M., Smith, S.E., & George, L.J. (2001). The connubial crucible: Newlywed predictors of marital delight, distress, and divorce. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 237-252.
21.
Johnson, M.P. (1991). Commitment to personal relationships. Advances in personal relationships, 3, 117-143.
22.
Johnson, M.P. (1999). Personal, moral, and structural commitment to relationships: Experiences of choice and constraint. In W. H. Jones & J. M. Adams (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal commitment and relationship stability (pp. 73-87). New York: Plenum.
23.
Johnson, M.P., Caughlin, J.P., & Huston, T.L. (1999). The tripartite nature of commitment: Personal, moral, and structural reasons to stay married. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 160-177.
24.
Kashy, D.A., & Kenny, D.A. (2000). The analysis of data from dyads and groups. In H. T. Reis & C. M. Judd (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social psychology (pp. 451-477). New York: Cambridge University Press.
25.
Kelley, H.H., Holmes, J.G., Kerr, N.L., Rusbult, C.E., & van Lange, P.A. (2003). An atlas of interpersonal situations. New York: Cambridge University Press.
26.
Kelley, H.H., & Thibaut, J.W. (1978). Interpersonal relations: A theory of interdependence . New York: Wiley.
27.
Kenny, D.A., Kashy, D.A., & Bolger, N. (1998). Data analysis in social psychology. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (4th ed.; pp. 233-265). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
28.
Kenny, D.A., Kashy, D.A., & Cook, W.L. (2006). Dyadic data analysis. New York : Guilford.
29.
Knapp, M.L., & Taylor, E.H. (1994). Commitment and its communication in romantic relationships . In A. L. Weber & J. H. Harvey (Eds.), Perspectives on close relationships (pp. 153-175). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
30.
Kurdek, L.A. (1995). Assessing multiple determinants of relationship commitment in cohabitating gay, cohabitating lesbian, and heterosexual and married couples. Family Relations, 44, 261-266.
31.
Le, B., & Agnew, C.R. (2003). Commitment and its theorized determinants: A meta-analysis of the investment model. Personal Relationships, 10, 37-57.
32.
McCall, G.J., & Simmons, J.L. (1978). Identities and interaction. New York: The Free Press.
33.
Parks, M.R. (1997). Communication networks and relationship life cycles . In S. Duck (Eds.), Handbook of personal relationships (2nd ed.) (pp. 352-372). New York: Wiley.
34.
Rayens, M.T., & Svavardottir, E.K. (2003). A new methodological approach in nursing research: An actor, partner, and interaction effect model for family outcomes. Research in Nursing and Health, 26, 409-419.
35.
Rusbult, C.E. (1980). Commitment and satisfaction in romantic associations: A test of the investment model. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 16, 172-186.
36.
Rusbult, C.E. & Buunk, B.P. (1993). Commitment processes in close relationships: An interdependence analysis. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships , 10, 175-204.
37.
Rusbult, C.E., Coolsen, M.K., Kirchner, J.L., & Clarke, J.A. (2006). Commitment. In A. L. Vangelisti, & D. Perlman (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of personal relationships (pp. 615-635). New York; Cambridge University Press.
38.
Rusbult, C.E., Drigotas, S.M., & Verette, J. (1994). The investment model: An interdependence analysis of commitment processes and relationship maintenance phenomena. In D. J. Canary & L. Stafford (Eds.), Communication and relational maintenance (pp. 115-140). New York: Academic Press.
39.
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.
40.
Sprecher, S., & Felmlee, D. (1992). The influence of parents and friends on the quality and stability of romantic relationships: A three-wave longitudinal investigation . Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54, 888-900.
41.
Stafford, L. (1994). Tracing the threads of spider webs. In D. J. Canary & L. Stafford (Eds.), Communication and relational maintenance (pp. 297-306) San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
42.
Stafford, L. (2002). Maintaining romantic relationships: Summary and analysis of one research program. In D. J. Canary & M. Dainton (Eds.), Maintaining relationships through communication: Relational, contextual, and cultural variations (pp. 51-78). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
43.
Stafford, L., & Canary, D.J. (1991). Maintenance strategies and romantic relationship type, gender, and relational characteristics. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 8, 217-242.
44.
Stafford, L., Dainton, M., & Haas, S. (2000). Measuring routine and strategic relational maintenance: Scale development, sex versus gender roles, and the prediction of relational characteristics. Communication Monographs, 67, 306-323.
45.
Stafford, L., Kline, S.L., & Rankin, C.T. (2004). Married individuals, cohabitators, and cohabitators who marry: A longitudinal study of relational and individual well-being. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 21, 231-248.
46.
Stanley, S.M., & Markman, H.J. (1992). Assessing commitment in personal relationships . Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54, 595-608.
47.
Thibaut, J.W., & Kelley, H.H. (1959). The social psychology of groups. New York: Wiley.
48.
Weigel, D.J., & Ballard-Reisch, D.S. (2002). Investigating the behavioral indicators of relational commitment. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 19, 403-423.
