Implicit theories of relationships (ITRs) influence goals, motivations, attributions, and behavior in romantic relationships. We developed a model of ITRs that draws from social cognition, motivation, and achievement literatures, and derived conceptual parallels and hypotheses with regard to relationships. It is proposed that ITRs reflect the belief component of a larger system of motivations and goals that can influence the degree to which people are oriented toward the evaluation and cultivation of relationships. Research on ITRs is reviewed with regard to how they moderate well-documented associations between relationship perceptions and outcomes. Differences between ITRs and implicit theories in other domains are also discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
2.
Aron, A., & Aron, E. N. (1995). Three suggestions for increased emphasis in the study of personal relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 12, 559-562.
3.
Aron, A., & Aron, E. (1997). Self-expansion motivation and including other in the self. In S. Duck (Ed.), Handbook of personal relationships (2nd ed., pp. 251-270). New York: Wiley.
4.
Aron, A., Aron, E., & Smollan, D. (1992). Inclusion of other in the self scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 596-612.
5.
Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1963). Imitation of film-mediated aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66, 3-11.
6.
Benenson, J. F., & Dweck, C. S. (1986). The development of trait explanations and self-evaluations in the academic and social domains. Child Development, 57, 1179-1187.
7.
Blais, M. R., Sabourin, S., Boucher, C., & Vallerand, R. J. (1990). Toward a motivational model of couple happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1021-1031.
8.
Chiu, C., Dweck, C. S., Tong, Y., & Fu, H. (1997). Implicit theories and conceptions of morality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 923-940.
9.
Chiu, C., Hong, Y., & Dweck, C. S. (1997). Lay dispositionism and implicit theories of personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 19-30.
10.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.
11.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1987). The support of autonomy and the control of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1024-1037.
12.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1991). A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality. In R. Dienstbier (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 1990 (pp. 237-288). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
13.
Diener, E. I., & Dweck, C. S. (1980). An analysis of learned helplessness: II. The processing of success. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 940-952.
14.
Druen, P. B. (1996). Cumulative relationship experience and partner selection strategies: Associations and implications for relationship quality. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Louisville, Kentucky.
15.
Dweck, C. S. (1991). Self-theories and goals: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. In R. Dienstbier (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation (pp. 199-235). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
16.
Dweck, C. S. (1996). Implicit theories as organizers of goals and behavior. In P. M. Gollwitzer & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), The psychology of action: Linking cognition and motivation to behavior (pp. 69-90). New York: Guilford.
17.
Dweck, C. S. (1998). The development of early self-conceptions: Their relevance for motivational processes. In J. Heckhausen & C. S. Dweck (Eds.), Motivation and self-regulation across the lifespan (pp. 257-280). New York: Cambridge University Press.
18.
Dweck, C. S., Chiu, C., & Hong, Y. (1995). Implicit theories and their role in judgments and reactions: A world from two perspectives. Psychological Inquiry, 6, 267-285.
19.
Dweck, C. S., Hong, Y., & Chiu, C. (1993). Implicit theories: Individual differences in the likelihood and meaning of dispositional inference. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19, 644-656.
20.
Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 25, 109-116.
21.
Eidelson, R. J., & Epstein, N. (1982). Cognition and relationship maladjustment: Development of a measure of dysfunctional relationship beliefs. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50, 715-720.
22.
Erdley, C. A., & Dweck, C. S. (1993). Children's implicit personality theories as predictors of their social judgments. Child Development, 64, 863-878.
23.
Feeney, J. A. (1999). Adult romantic attachment and couple relationships. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment (pp. 355-377). New York: Guilford.
24.
Feeney, J. A., Noller, P., & Callan, V. J. (1994). Attachment style, communication, and satisfaction in the early years of marriage. In K. Bartholomew & D. Perlman (Eds.), Advances in personal relationships: Vol. 5. Attachment processes in adulthood. (pp. 269-308). London: Jessica Kingsley.
25.
Fletcher, G. J. O., & Fitness, J. (1990). Occurrent social cognition in close relationship interaction: The role of proximal and distal variables. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 464-474.
26.
Fletcher, G. J. O., & Kininmonth, L. (1992). Measuring relationship beliefs: An individual differences measure. Journal of Research in Personality, 26, 371-397.
27.
Fletcher, G. J. O., Simpson, J. A., Thomas, G., & Giles, L. (1999). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 72-89.
28.
Fletcher, G. J. O., & Thomas, G. (1996). Close relationship lay theories: Their structure and function. In G. J. O. Fletcher & J. Fitness (Eds.), Knowledge structures and interaction in close relationships: A social psychological approach (pp. 3-24). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbhuum Associates, Inc.
29.
Franiuk, R., Cohen, D., & Pomerantz, E. M. (2001). Implicit theories of relationships: Implications for relationship satisfaction and longevity. Manuscript submitted for publication.
30.
Gervey, B. M., Chiu, Y., Hong, Y., & Dweck, C. S. (1999). Differential use of person information in decisions about guilt versus innocence: The role of implicit theories. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 17-27.
31.
Goetz, T. E., & Dweck, C. S. (1980). Learned helplessness in social situations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 246-255.
32.
Hammond, J. R., & Fletcher, G. J. O. (1991). Attachment styles and relationship satisfaction in the development of close relationships. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 20, 56-62.
33.
Hendrick, C., & Hendrick, S. (1986). A theory and method of love. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 392-402.
34.
Hodgins, H. S., & Knee, C. R. (2002). The integrating self and conscious experience. In E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 87-100). New York: University of Rochester Press.
35.
Hodgins, H. S., Koestner, R., & Duncan, N. (1996). On the compatibility of autonomy and relatedness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 227-237.
36.
Hong, Y., Chiu, C., & Dweck, C. S. (1995). Implicit theories of intelligence: Reconsidering the role of confidence in achievement motivation. In M. Kernis (Ed.), Efficacy, agency, and self-esteem. New York: Plenum.
37.
Hong, Y., Chiu, C., Dweck, C. S., Lin, D. M. S., & Wan, W. (1999). Implicit theories, attributions, and coping: A meaning system approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 588-599.
38.
Kirkpatrick, L. A., & Hazan, C. (1994). Attachment styles and close relationships: A four-year prospective study. Personal Relationships, 1, 123-142.
39.
Knee, C. R. (1998). Implicit theories of relationships: Assessment and prediction of romantic relationship initiation, coping, and longevity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 360-370.
40.
Knee, C. R., Nanayakkara, A., Vietor, N. A., Neighbors, C., & Patrick, H. (2001). Implicit theories of relationships: Who cares if romantic partners are less than ideal?Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 808-819.
41.
Knee, C. R., Patrick, H., Vietor, N. A., Nanayakkara, A., & Neighbors, C. (2002). Self-determination as growth motivation in romantic relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 609-619
42.
Knee, C. R., Patrick, H., Vietor, N. A., & Neighbors, C. (2002). Implicit theories of relationships as moderators of the link between conflict and relationship quality. Manuscript submitted for publication.
43.
Knee, C. R., & Zuckerman, M. (1996). Causality orientations and the disappearance of the self-serving bias. Journal of Research in Personality, 30, 76-87.
44.
Knee, C. R., & Zuckerman, M. (1998). A nondefensive personality: Autonomy and control as moderators of defensive coping and self-handicapping. Journal of Research in Personality, 32, 115-130.
45.
Koestner, R. & Zuckerman, M. (1994). Causality orientations, failure, and achievement. Journal of Personality, 62, 321-346.
46.
Levy, S. R., Plaks, J. E., & Dweck, C. S. (1999). Modes of social thought: Implicit theories and social understanding. In S. Chaiken & Y. Trope (Eds.), Dual-process theories in social psychology (pp. 179-202). New York: Guilford.
47.
Lydon, J. (1999). Commitment and adversity: A reciprocal relation. In J. M. Adams & W. H. Jones (Eds.), Handbook on interpersonal commitment and relationship stability. (pp. 193-203). New York: Plenum.
48.
Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children's motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 33-52.
49.
Murray, S. L., & Holmes, J. G. (1993). Seeing virtues in faults: Negativity and the transformation of interpersonal narratives in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 707-722.
50.
Murray, S. L., Holmes, J. G., & Griffin, D. W. (1996). The benefits of positive illusions: Idealization and the construction of satisfaction in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 79-98.
51.
Neuberg, S. L., & Newsom, J. T. (1993). Personal need for structure: Individual differences in the desire for simple structure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 113-131.
52.
Patrick, H., & Knee, C. R. (2002). Implicit theories of relationships and motivation: Buffering the negative consequences of extrinsic relationship motivation. Manuscript in preparation.
53.
Patrick, H., Knee, C. R., & Lonsbary, C. (2001). Implicit theories of relationships and responses to romantic infidelity. Manuscript submitted for publication.
54.
Ross, M. (1989). Relation of implicit theories to the construct of personal histories. Psychological Review, 96, 341-357.
55.
Rusbult, C. E., Zembrodt, I. M., & Gunn, L. K. (1982). Exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect: Responses to dissatisfaction in romantic involvements. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 1230-1242.
56.
Ruvolo, A. P., & Rotondo, J. L. (1998). Diamonds in the rough: Implicit personality theories and views of the partner and self. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 750-758.
57.
Sprecher, S., & Metts, S. (1989). Development of the ‘Romantic Beliefs Scale’ and examination of the effects of gender and gender-role orientation. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 6, 387-411.
58.
Williams, G. C., Grow, V. M., Freedman, Z. R., Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (1996). Motivational predictors of weight loss and weight-loss maintenance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 115-126.
