Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The present research applies Action Identification Theory to the context of romantic relationships. Specifically, we investigated the association between relationship outcomes and action identification level, utilizing measures based on the Behavior Identification Form (BIF). The BIF measures the level at which individuals tend to identify actions, either by their meaning (high level) or concrete details (low level). Although the domain-general BIF correlated with relationship outcomes in a preliminary study (Study 1), it is a global measure that is not tailored to assess action identification within romantic relationships. Accordingly, we developed a novel Relationship BIF (Study 2) to assess action identification in the context of romantic relationship behaviors. We explored the associations among the novel Relationship BIF, other measures of action identification, and relationship outcomes (e.g., relationship satisfaction). Results demonstrated that the Relationship BIF effectively assesses variation in action identification level for romantic relationship behaviors and correlates with relationship outcomes. Findings further demonstrated a variety of positive relationship processes associated with a tendency for higher-level identifications of romantic activities, highlighting action identification level as a useful construct for understanding relationship function.

Keywords

relationships behavior identification form action identification romantic relationships relationship satisfaction construal level

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aron

E. N.

Smollan

(1992). Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63(4), 596–612. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.63.4.596

Aron

Lewandowski

Branand

Mashek

Aron

(2022). Self-expansion motivation and inclusion of others in self: An updated review. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 39(12), 3821–3852. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221110630

Campbell

J. D.

Trapnell

P. D.

Heine

S. J.

Katz

I. M.

Lavallee

L. F.

Lehman

D. R.

(1996). Self-concept clarity: Measurement, personality correlates, and cultural boundaries. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(1), 141–156. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.1.141

Emery

L. F.

Gardner

W. L.

Carswell

K. L.

Finkel

E. J.

(2021). Who are “We”? Couple identity clarity and romantic relationship commitment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47(1), 146–160. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220921717

Ewell

P. J.

Hamilton

J. C.

Guadagno

R. E.

(2018). How do video game players identify their actions? Integrating action identification theory and videogame play via the behavior identification form-gamer. Computers in Human Behavior, 81(1), 189–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.12.019

Fernández

Caballero

Muñoz

Aguilar

Carrera

(2018). Abstract construal level and its link to self-control and to cross-situational consistency in self-concept: Predicting health-risk behavioral intentions. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 21(1), Article E47. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2018.43

Fincham

F. D.

Bradbury

T. N.

(1993). Marital satisfaction, depression, and attributions: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(3), 442–452. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.64.3.442

Fointiat

Pelt

(2015). Do I know what i’m doing? Cognitive dissonance and action identification theory. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 18(1), Article E97. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2015.93

Funk

J. L.

Rogge

R. D.

(2007). Testing the ruler with item response theory: Increasing precision of measurement for relationship satisfaction with the couples satisfaction index. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(4), 572–583. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.21.4.572

10.

Hartman

Moss

A. J.

Jaffe

S. N.

Rosenzweig

Litman

Robinson

(2023). Introducing connect by CloudResearch: Advancing online participant recruitment in the digital age. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ksgyr. Retrieved 1/22/2025.

11.

Joel

Eastwick

P. W.

Allison

C. J.

Arriaga

X. B.

Baker

Z. G.

Bar-Kalifa

Wolf

Birnbaum

G. E.

Brock

R. L.

Brumbaugh

C. C.

Carmichael

C. L.

Chen

Clarke

Cobb

R. J.

Coolsen

M. K.

Davis

de Jong

D. C.

Debrot

DeHaas

E. C.

(2020). Machine learning uncovers the most robust self-report predictors of relationship quality across 43 longitudinal couples studies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(32), 19061–19071. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1917036117

12.

Knee

C. R.

Bush

A. L.

(2008). Relationship beliefs and their role in romantic relationship initiation. In Sprecher

Wenzel

Harvey

(Eds.), Handbook of relationship initiation (pp. 471–485). Psychology Press.

13.

Kozak

M. N.

Marsh

A. A.

Wegner

D. M.

(2006). What do I think you're doing? Action identification and mind attribution. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(4), 543–555. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.4.543

14.

Lafontaine

M. F.

Brassard

Lussier

Valois

Shaver

P. R.

Johnson

S. M.

(2015). Selecting the best items for a short-form of the Experiences in Close Relationships questionnaire. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 32(2), 140–154. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000243

15.

Lee

I. A.

Preacher

K. J.

(2013). Calculation for the test of the difference between two dependent correlations with one variable in common. [Computer software]. https://quantpsy.org/

16.

Leech

N. L.

Onwuegbuzie

A. J.

(2007). An array of qualitative data analysis tools: A call for data analysis triangulation. School Psychology Quarterly, 22(4), 557–584. https://doi.org/10.1037/1045-3830.22.4.557

17.

Solomon

D. H.

(2023). Operationalizing relational construal level to test relational turbulence theory: Linking relational turbulence in romantic relationships to interpersonal processes. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 40(1), 102–129. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221113360

18.

Marigold

D. C.

Holmes

J. G.

Ross

(2010). Fostering relationship resilience: An intervention for low self-esteem individuals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(4), 624–630. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2010.02.011

19.

McLaren

R. M.

Haunani Solomon

Priem

J. S.

(2011). Explaining variation in contemporaneous responses to hurt in premarital romantic relationships: A relational turbulence model perspective. Communication Research, 38(4), 543–564. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650210377896

20.

McNulty

J. K.

O'Mara

E. M.

Karney

B. R.

(2008). Benevolent cognitions as a strategy of relationship maintenance: “don’t sweat the small stuff”. But it is not all small stuff. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(4), 631–646. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.94.4.631

21.

Michaels

J. L.

Coy

A. E.

Vallacher

R. R.

(2023). The Religious Behavioral Identification Form (RBIF): A scale to measure global versus situational understanding of religious actions. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 15(2), 281–289. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000427

22.

Mikulincer

Shaver

P. R.

Pereg

(2003). Attachment theory and affect regulation: The dynamics, development, and cognitive consequences of attachment-related strategies. Motivation and Emotion, 27(2), 77–102. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1024515519160

23.

Murray

S. L.

Holmes

J. G.

Collins

N. L.

(2006). Optimizing assurance: The risk regulation system in relationships. Psychological Bulletin, 132(5), 641–666. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.5.641

24.

Neff

L. A.

Karney

B. R.

(2002). Judgments of a relationship partner: Specific accuracy but global enhancement. Journal of Personality, 70(6), 1079–1112. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.05032

25.

Nowak

Vallacher

R. R.

(1998). Dynamical social psychology. The Guilford Press.

26.

OpenAI . (2023). OpenAI GPT. [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

27.

Reyt

J. N.

Wiesenfeld

B. M.

(2015). Seeing the forest for the trees: Exploratory learning, Mobile technology, and knowledge workers’ role integration behaviors. Academy of Management Journal, 58(3), 739–762. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.0991

28.

Seidel

S. D.

Stasser

G. L.

Collier

S. A.

(1998). Action identification theory as an explanation of social performance. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2(3), 147–154. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2699.2.3.147

29.

Seidman

Burke

C. T.

(2015). Partner enhancement versus verification and emotional responses to daily conflict. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 32(3), 304–329. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407514533227

30.

Semin

G. R.

(2012). The linguistic category model. In Van Lange

P. A. M.

Kruglanski

A. W.

Higgins

E. T.

(Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (pp. 309–326). Sage Publications.

31.

Solomon

D. H.

Knobloch

L. K.

Theiss

J. A.

McLaren

R. M.

(2016). Relational turbulence theory: Explaining variation in subjective experiences and communication within romantic relationships. Human Communication Research, 42(4), 507–532. https://doi.org/10.1111/hcre.12091

32.

Trope

Liberman

(2010). Construal-level theory of psychological distance. Psychological Review, 117(2), 440–463. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018963

33.

Vallacher

R. R.

(2009). Self: The unity of self, self-consistency. In Banks

W. P.

(Ed.), Encyclopedia of consciousness (Vol. 2, pp. 313–325): Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-012373873-8.00070-0

34.

Vallacher

R. R.

Selz

(1991). Who’s to blame? Action identification in allocating responsibility for rape. Social Cognition, 9(2), 194–219. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.1991.9.2.194

35.

Vallacher

R. R.

Wegner

D. M.

(1985). A theory of action identification. Erlbaum.

36.

Vallacher

R. R.

Wegner

D. M.

(1987). What do people think they’re doing? Action identification and human behavior. Psychological Review, 94(1), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.94.1.3

37.

Vallacher

R. R.

Wegner

D. M.

(1989). Levels of personal agency: Individual variation in action identification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(4), 660–671. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.4.660

38.

Vallacher

R. R.

Wegner

D. M.

(2012). Action identification theory. In Van Lange

P. A. M.

Kruglanski

A. W.

Higgins

E. T.

(Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (pp. 327–348). Sage.

39.

Vallacher

R. R.

Wegner

D. M.

Frederick

(1987). The presentation of self through action identification. Social Cognition, 5(3), 301–322. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.1987.5.3.301

40.

Wegner

D. M.

Vallacher

R. R.

Kiersted

Dizadji

(1986). Action identification in the emergence of social behavior. Social Cognition, 4(1), 18–38. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.1986.4.1.18

41.

Wegner

D. M.

Vallacher

R. R.

Macomber

Wood

Arps

(1984). The emergence of action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46(2), 269–279. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.46.2.269

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

0.26 MB

Highs and Lows of Relationship Behaviors: Constructing a Relationship Behavior Identification Form

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material