Pathways to connection: An intensive longitudinal examination of state and dispositional hope,day quality,and everyday interpersonal interaction

Abstract

Building on hope theory, this study demonstrates that state and trait hope are associated with daily interpersonal experiences. Multilevel modeling of daily diary data (N = 127 adults) indicated that state hope—composed of the dual factors of pathways (i.e., the ability to devise routes toward goals) and agency (i.e., motivation to pursue devised routes)—was negatively associated with amount of daily interpersonal conflict, positively associated with constructive conflict management when conflict occurred, and negatively associated with daily challenges in maintaining relationships. These relationships were found largely at the within-person level. Further, and consistent with central tenets of hope theory, moderated multilevel models showed that within-person state pathways and agency thinking were more strongly associated with day quality on days when individuals experienced higher-than-usual levels of relational maintenance challenges. Finally, in an extension of hope theory, multilevel models showed that dispositional pathways and between-person state agency were positively linked to momentary feelings of connection as captured by experience sampling over a 7-day period. Overall, the findings contribute to the continued expansion of hope theory into the study of social and personal relationships.

Keywords

Communication diary study ecological momentary assessment experience sampling goals phone relationship maintenance resilience

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Afifi

T. D.

Merrill

A. F.

Davis

(2016). The theory of resilience and relational load. Personal Relationships, 23, 663–683. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12159

Alarcon

G. M.

Bowling

N. A.

Khazon

(2013). Great expectations: A meta-analytic examination of optimism and hope. Personality and Individual Differences, 54, 821–827. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.12.004

Bates

Maechler

Bolker

Walker

(2015). Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67, 1–48. https://doi.org/0.18637/jss.v067.i01

Bevan

J. L.

Finan

Kaminsky

(2008). Modeling serial arguments in close relationships: The serial argument process model. Human Communication Research, 34, 600–624. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2008.00334.x

Boardman

S. K.

Horowitz

S. V.

(1994). Constructive conflict management and social problems: An introduction. Journal of Social Issues, 50, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1994.tb02394.x

Bolger

Laurenceau

J.-P.

(2013). Intensive longitudinal methods: An introduction to diary and experience sampling research. Guilford.

Bryant

F. B.

Cvengros

J. A

. (2004). Distinguishing hope and optimism: Two sides of a coin, or two separate coins? Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23, 273–302. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.23.2.273.31018

Canary

D. J.

(2003). Managing interpersonal conflict: A model of events related to strategic choices. In Greene

J. O.

Burleson

B. R.

(Eds.), Handbook of communication and social interaction skills (pp. 515–549). Erlbaum.

Caughlin

J. P.

Vangelisti

A. L.

(2006). Conflict in dating and marital relationships. In Oetzel

J. G.

Ting-Toomey

(Eds.), The Sage handbook of conflict communication: Integrating theory, research, and practice (pp. 129–157). SAGE.

10.

Chang

E. C.

Yang

(2017). Perceived interpersonal sources of life satisfaction in Chinese and American students: Cultural or gender differences? The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12, 414–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1198925

11.

Daugherty

D. A.

Runyan

J. D.

Steenbergh

T. A.

Fratze

B. J.

Fry

B. N.

Westra

(2018). Smartphone delivery of a hope intervention: Another way to flourish. PLoS ONE, 13, e0197930. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197930

12.

Davidson

O. B.

Feldman

D. B.

Margalit

(2012). A focused intervention for 1st-year college students: Promoting hope, sense of coherence, and self-efficacy. The Journal of Psychology, 146, 333–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2011.634862

13.

Diener

Seligman

M. E. P.

(2002). Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13, 81–84. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00415

14.

Driver

J. L.

Gottman

J. M.

(2004). Daily marital interactions and positive affect during marital conflict among newlywed couples. Family Process, 43, 301–314. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2004.00024.x

15.

Duck

(1991). Diaries and logs. In Montgomery

B. M.

Duck

(Eds.), Studying interpersonal communication (pp. 141–161). Guilford.

16.

Eliott

Olver

(2002). The discursive properties of “hope”: A qualitative analysis of cancer patients’ speech. Qualitative Health Research, 12, 173–193. https://doi.org/10.1177/104973230201200204

17.

Feeney

B. C.

Lemay

E. P.

Jr (2012). Surviving relationship threats: The role of emotional capital. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 1004–1017. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167212442971

18.

Finkel

E. J.

Campbell

K. W.

(2001). Self-control and accommodation in close relationships: An interdependence analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 263–277. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.2.263

19.

Girardi

Falco

de Carlo

Benevene

Comar

Tongiorgi

Bartolucci

G. B.

(2015). The mediating role of interpersonal conflict at work in the relationship between negative affectivity and biomarkers of stress. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 38, 922–931. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-015-9658-x

20.

Greeff

A. P.

de Bruyne

(2000). Conflict management style and marital satisfaction. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 26, 321–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/009262300438724

21.

Hall

J. A.

(2018). Energy, episode, and relationship: A test of communicate bond belong theory. Communication Quarterly, 66, 380–402. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2017.1411377

22.

Hartig

(2020). DHARMa: Residual diagnostics for hierarchical (multi-level/mixed) regression models. R package version 0.3.3.0. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=DHARMa

23.

Kerig

P. K.

(1996). Addressing the links between interparental conflict and child adjustment: The Conflicts and Problem-Solving Scales. Journal of Family Psychology, 10, 454–473. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.10.4.454

24.

Laursen

Hafen

C. A.

(2009). Future directions in the study of close relationships: Conflict is bad (except when it’s not). Social Development, 19, 858–872. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2009.00546.x

25.

Lazarus

R. S.

(1999). Hope: An emotion and a vital coping resource against despair. Social Research, 66, 653–678.

26.

Long

J. A.

(2019). Interactions: Comprehensive, user-friendly toolkit for probing interactions. R package version 1.1.0. https://cran.r-project.org/package=interactions

27.

Magaletta

P. R.

Oliver

J. M.

(1999) The hope construct, will, and ways: Their relations with self-efficacy, optimism, and general well-being. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55, 539–551. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(199905)55:5<539::AID-JCLP2>3.0.CO;2-G

28.

Magyard-Moe

J. L.

Lopez

S. J.

(2015). Strategies for accentuating hope. In Joseph

(Ed.), Positive psychology in practice: Promoting human flourishing in work, health, education, and everyday life (2nd ed., pp. 483–502). Wiley.

29.

Merolla

A. J.

(2014). The role of hope in conflict management and relational maintenance. Personal Relationships, 21, 365–386. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12037

30.

Merolla

A. J.

(2017). Further testing hope’s role in constructive conflict communication. Communication Quarterly, 65, 481–501. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2017.1291529

31.

Merolla

A. J.

Harman

J. J.

(2018). Relationship-specific hope and constructive conflict management in adult romantic relationships: Testing an accommodation framework. Communication Research, 45, 339–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650215627484

32.

Merolla

A. J.

Kam

J. A.

(2018). Parental hope communication and parent-adolescent constructive conflict management: A multilevel longitudinal analysis. Journal of Family Communication, 18, 32–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/15267431.2017.1385461

33.

Mikulincer

Shaver

P. R.

(2020). Enhancing the “broaden and build” cycle of attachment security in adulthood: From the laboratory to relational contexts and societal systems. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062054

34.

Miller

C. W.

Roloff

M. E.

Reznik

R. M.

(2014). Hopelessness and interpersonal conflict: Antecedents and consequences of losing hope. Western Journal of Communication, 78, 563–585. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2014.896026

35.

Missotten

L. C.

Luyckx

Branje

van Petegem

(2018). Adolescents’ conflict management styles with mothers: Longitudinal associations with parenting and reactance. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47, 260–274. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0634-3

36.

Mosing

M. A.

Zietsch

B. P.

Shekar

S. N.

Wright

M. J.

Martin

N. G.

(2009). Genetic and environmental influences on optimism and its relationship to mental and self-rated health: A study of aging twins. Behavior Genetics, 39, 597–604. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-009-9287-7

37.

Overall

N. C.

McNulty

J. K.

(2017). What type of communication during conflict is beneficial for intimate relationships? Current Opinion in Psychology, 13, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2016.03.002

38.

Paul

Seetharaman

Samarah

Mykytyn

P. P.

(2004). Impact of heterogeneity and collaborative conflict management style on the performance of synchronous global virtual teams. Information and Management, 41, 303–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-7206(03)00076-4

39.

Peterson

S. J.

Byron

(2008). Exploring the role of hope in job performance: Results from four studies. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29, 785–803. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.492

40.

Pinheiro

Bates

DebRoy

Sarkar

, & R Core Team. (2020). Nlme: Linear and nonlinear mixed effects models. R package version 3.1-149, https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=nlme

41.

Pleeging

Burger

van Exel

(2019). The Relations between hope and subjective well-being: A literature review and empirical analysis. Applied Research in Quality Life. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-019-09802-4

42.

Roloff

M. J.

Chiles

B. W.

(2011). Interpersonal conflict: Recent trends. In Knapp

M. L.

Daly

J. A.

(Eds.), The Sage handbook of interpersonal communication (4th ed., pp. 423–442). SAGE.

43.

Rusbult

C. E.

Bissonnette

V. L.

Arriaga

X. B.

Cox

C. L.

(1998). Accommodation processes during the early years of marriage. In Bradbury

T. N.

(Ed.), The developmental course of marital dysfunction (pp. 74–113). Cambridge University Press.

44.

Ryff

C. D.

(1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.57.6.1069

45.

Segrin

Taylor

(2007). Positive interpersonal relationships mediate the association between social skills and psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 637–646. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.01.017

46.

Shorey

H. S.

Snyder

C. R.

Yang

Lewin

M. R.

(2003). The role of hope as a mediator in recollected parenting, adult attachment, and mental health. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 22, 685–715. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.22.6.685.22938

47.

Snyder

C. R.

(1995). Conceptualizing, measuring, and nurturing hope. Journal of Counseling and Development, 73, 355–360. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.1995.tb01764.x

48.

Snyder

C. R.

(2002). Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind. Psychological Inquiry, 13, 249–275. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1304_01

49.

Snyder

C. R.

Cheavens

Sympson

S. C.

(1997). Hope: An individual motive for social commerce. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 1, 107–118. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2699.1.2.107

50.

Snyder

C. R.

Feldman

D. B.

(2000). Hope for the many: An empowering agenda. In Snyder

C. R.

(Ed.), Handbook of hope: Theory, measure, and application (pp. 389–412). Academic.

51.

Snyder

C. R.

Harris

Anderson

J. R.

Holleran

S. A.

Irving

L. M.

Sigmon

S. T.

Yoshinobu

Gibb

Langelle

Harney

(1991). The will and the ways: Development and validation of an individual-differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 570–585. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.60.4.570

52.

Snyder

C. R.

Irving

Anderson

J. R.

(1991). Hope and health: Measuring the will and the ways. In Snyder

C. R.

Forsyth

D. R.

(Eds.), Handbook of social and clinical psychology: The health perspective (pp. 285–305). Pergamon.

53.

Snyder

C. R.

LaPointe

A. B.

Crowson

J. J.

Early

(1998). Preferences of high- and low-hope people for self-referential input. Cognition and Emotion, 12, 807–823. https://doi.org/10.1080/026999398379448

54.

Snyder

C. R.

Rand

K. L.

King

E. A.

Feldman

D. B.

Woodward

J. T

. (2002). “False” hope. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58, 1003–1022. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.10096

55.

Snyder

C. R.

Rand

K. L.

Sigmon

D. R.

(2018). Hope theory: A member of the positive psychology family. In Gallagher

M. W.

Lopez

S. J.

(Eds.), The Oxford handbook of hope (pp. 27–44). Oxford University Press.

56.

Snyder

C. R.

Sympson

S. C.

Ybasco

F. C.

Borders

T. F.

Babyak

M. A.

Higgins

R. L.

(1996). Development and validation of the State Hope Scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 321–335. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.2.321

57.

Stafford

(2003). Maintaining romantic relationships: Summary and analysis of one research program. In Canary

D. J.

Dainton

(Eds.), Maintaining relationships through communication: Relational contextual, and cultural variations (pp. 51–102). Erlbaum.

58.

Stotland

(1969). The psychology of hope: An integration of experimental, clinical, and social approaches. Jossey-Bass.

59.

Weis

Speridakos

E. C.

(2011). A meta-analysis of hope enhancement strategies in clinical and community settings. Psychology of Well-Being, 1. www.psywb.com/content/1/1/5

60.

Wickham

(2016). Ggplot2: Elegant graphics for data analysis. Springer-Verlag.

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

0.13 MB