Positive psychology of relationships

Last updated

Positive psychology of relationships is a subfield of positive psychology that focuses on understanding, cultivating, and enhancing the positive aspects of interpersonal relationships. [1] Examples include positive intimate relationships, workplace relationships, and relationships across different stages of life – from youth through adolescence to older adulthood. [2]

Contents

Theoretical frameworks

Capitalization

Langston introduced the concept of capitalization in 1994, referring to the process of taking advantage of positive events by sharing them with close others. [3] This has shown to improve relationships through increased intimacy and lower emotional distress. [4] According to Peters, the process of capitalization is not only beneficial for the individual sharing the good news, but also for the person to whom they tell their news. [5]

Shelly Gable identified four types of capitalization responses: active-constructive (e.g., enthusiastic support), passive-constructive (e.g., quiet, understated support), active-destructive (e.g., demeaning the event), and passive-destructive (e.g., ignoring the event). [6] Gable uses the following example to illustrate these responses:

Maria comes home from her job as an associate in a law firm and excitedly tells her husband, Robert, that the senior partners called her into a meeting today and assigned her to be the lead lawyer for an important case filed on behalf of their most prestigious client.

An active–constructive response from Robert might be, "Wow, this is great news! Your skills and hard work are definitely paying off; I am certain that your goal to make partner will happen in no time. What is the case about?"

A passive–constructive response could be a warm smile followed by a simple, "That’s nice, dear."

An active–destructive response might be, "Wow, I bet the case will be complicated; are you sure you can handle it? It sounds like it might be a lot of work; maybe no one else wanted the case. You will probably have to work even longer hours this month."

A passive–destructive response might be, "You won’t believe what happened to me today," or "What do you want to do for dinner?" [7]

Gable and colleagues found that the active-constructive response in close relationships were associated with higher relationship well-being (e.g., intimacy, daily marital satisfaction). [6]

Research

Social networks

A social network impacts the psychological well-being of a person. Research among 222 students showed that the 10% happiest students spent less time alone and were more satisfied in their relationships than the 10% least happy students. [8] A meta-analysis also confirms that larger social networks correlate with higher psychological well-being. [9]

Using network analysis tools, Fowler and Christakis conducted a study to examine how happiness spreads through social connections. They measured the happiness effects between friends (one degree of separation), friends of friends (two degrees), and friends of friends of friends (three degrees). The results indicated that having a happy friend increases the likelihood of a person being happy by 15.3%, while the effect was 9.8% for second-degree connections and 5.6% for third-degree connections. [10]

Friendship

Several studies have found that the quality of friendships contributes more to well-being than the quantity of friendships. [11] A study of 280 college students examined friendship quality and well-being. Students ranked their friends, rating relationships on companionship, intimacy, reliability, and affection. Results showed that only the quality of the best friendship significantly predicted well-being. [12]

Related Research Articles

In social psychology, an interpersonal relation describes a social association, connection, or affiliation between two or more persons. It overlaps significantly with the concept of social relations, which are the fundamental unit of analysis within the social sciences. Relations vary in degrees of intimacy, self-disclosure, duration, reciprocity, and power distribution. The main themes or trends of the interpersonal relations are: family, kinship, friendship, love, marriage, business, employment, clubs, neighborhoods, ethical values, support and solidarity. Interpersonal relations may be regulated by law, custom, or mutual agreement, and form the basis of social groups and societies. They appear when people communicate or act with each other within specific social contexts, and they thrive on equitable and reciprocal compromises.

In the psychology of affective forecasting, the impact bias, a form of which is the durability bias, is the tendency for people to overestimate the length or the intensity of future emotional states.

Interpersonal attraction, as a part of social psychology, is the study of the attraction between people which leads to the development of platonic or romantic relationships. It is distinct from perceptions such as physical attractiveness, and involves views of what is and what is not considered beautiful or attractive.

Similarity refers to the psychological degree of identity of two mental representations. It is fundamental to human cognition since it provides the basis for categorization of entities into kinds and for various other cognitive processes. It underpins our ability to interact with unknown entities by predicting how they will behave based on their similarity to entities we are familiar with. Research in cognitive psychology has taken a number of approaches to the concept of similarity. Each of them is related to a particular set of assumptions about knowledge representation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intimate relationship</span> Physical or emotional intimacy

An intimate relationship is an interpersonal relationship that involves emotional or physical closeness between people and may include sexual intimacy and feelings of romance or love. Intimate relationships are interdependent, and the members of the relationship mutually influence each other. The quality and nature of the relationship depends on the interactions between individuals, and is derived from the unique context and history that builds between people over time. Social and legal institutions such as marriage acknowledge and uphold intimate relationships between people. However, intimate relationships are not necessarily monogamous or sexual, and there is wide social and cultural variability in the norms and practices of intimacy between people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social support</span> Support systems for individuals

Social support is the perception and actuality that one is cared for, has assistance available from other people, and, most popularly, that one is part of a supportive social network. These supportive resources can be emotional, informational, or companionship ; tangible or intangible. Social support can be measured as the perception that one has assistance available, the actual received assistance, or the degree to which a person is integrated in a social network. Support can come from many sources, such as family, friends, pets, neighbors, coworkers, organizations, etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social rejection</span> Deliberate exclusion of an individual from social relationship or social interaction

Social rejection occurs when an individual is deliberately excluded from a social relationship or social interaction. The topic includes interpersonal rejection, romantic rejection, and familial estrangement. A person can be rejected or shunned by individuals or an entire group of people. Furthermore, rejection can be either active by bullying, teasing, or ridiculing, or passive by ignoring a person, or giving the "silent treatment". The experience of being rejected is subjective for the recipient, and it can be perceived when it is not actually present. The word "ostracism" is also commonly used to denote a process of social exclusion.

Caring in intimate relationships is the practice of providing care and support to an intimate relationship partner. Caregiving behaviours are aimed at reducing the partner's distress and supporting their coping efforts in situations of either threat or challenge. Caregiving may include emotional support and/or instrumental support. Effective caregiving behaviour enhances the care-recipient's psychological well-being, as well as the quality of the relationship between the caregiver and the care-recipient. However, certain suboptimal caregiving strategies may be either ineffective or even detrimental to coping.

Social connection is the experience of feeling close and connected to others. It involves feeling loved, cared for, and valued, and forms the basis of interpersonal relationships.

"Connection is the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard and valued; when they can give and receive without judgement; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship." —Brené Brown, Professor of social work at the University of Houston

Emotions are biocultural phenomena, meaning they are shaped by both evolution and culture. They are "internal phenomena that can, but do not always, make themselves observable through expression and behavior". While emotions themselves are universal, they are always influenced by culture. How they are experienced, expressed, perceived, and regulated varies according to cultural norms and values. Culture is a necessary framework to understand global variation in emotion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belongingness</span> Human emotional need

Belongingness is the human emotional need to be an accepted member of a group. Whether it is family, friends, co-workers, a religion, or something else, some people tend to have an 'inherent' desire to belong and be an important part of something greater than themselves. This implies a relationship that is greater than simple acquaintance or familiarity.

Self-enhancement is a type of motivation that works to make people feel good about themselves and to maintain self-esteem. This motive becomes especially prominent in situations of threat, failure or blows to one's self-esteem. Self-enhancement involves a preference for positive over negative self-views. It is one of the three self-evaluation motives along with self-assessment and self-verification . Self-evaluation motives drive the process of self-regulation, that is, how people control and direct their own actions.

Meta-mood is a term used by psychologists to refer to an individual's awareness of their emotions. The term was first utilized by John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey who believed the experience of mood involved "direct" and "indirect" components. While the direct level refers to the simple appearance of mood - happiness, fear, anger, sadness, and surprise, the indirect level, or the meta-mood experience, does not solely consist of the emotions experienced by an individual in the moment. Rather, it is a reflective state which involves additional thoughts and feelings about the mood itself. "I shouldn’t feel this way" or "I am thinking of ways to improve my mood" are examples of reflective thoughts during a meta-mood experience.

Life satisfaction is an evaluation of a person's quality of life. It is assessed in terms of mood, relationship satisfaction, achieved goals, self-concepts, and self-perceived ability to cope with their life. Life satisfaction involves a favorable attitude towards one's life—rather than an assessment of current feelings. Life satisfaction has been measured in relation to economic standing, degree of education, experiences, residence, and other factors.

In social psychology, the stereotype content model (SCM) is a model, first proposed in 2002, postulating that all group stereotypes and interpersonal impressions form along two dimensions: (1) warmth and (2) competence.

The six-factor model of psychological well-being is a theory developed by Carol Ryff that determines six factors that contribute to an individual's psychological well-being, contentment, and happiness. Psychological well-being consists of self-acceptance, positive relationships with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, a feeling of purpose and meaning in life, and personal growth and development. Psychological well-being is attained by achieving a state of balance affected by both challenging and rewarding life events.

Interpersonal emotion regulation is the process of changing the emotional experience of one's self or another person through social interaction. It encompasses both intrinsic emotion regulation, in which one attempts to alter their own feelings by recruiting social resources, as well as extrinsic emotion regulation, in which one deliberately attempts to alter the trajectory of other people's feelings.

Serena Chen is an American social psychologist known for her work on the self and interpersonal relationships. She is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and currently serves as Chair of the Psychology Department. Her research utilizes a social-cognition framework and has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other news outlets.

Relationship quality refers to the perceived quality of a close relationship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friendship jealousy</span> Jealousy towards a third-party perceived as a threat to ones friendships

Friendship jealousy refers to the type of jealousy experienced when an individual perceives a third-party threat to one of their valued friendships. It is not to be confused with envy, or wanting what a friend has.

References

  1. ↑ Roffey, Sue (2012), Roffey, Sue (ed.), "Introduction to Positive Relationships: Evidence-Based Practice Across the World", Positive Relationships, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 1–15, doi:10.1007/978-94-007-2147-0_1, ISBN   978-94-007-2146-3 , retrieved 2025-01-08
  2. ↑ Warren, Meg A.; Donaldson, Stewart I., eds. (2017). Toward a Positive Psychology of Relationships: New Directions in Theory and Research (1 ed.). ABC-CLIO, LLC. doi:10.5040/9798216026617.ch-002. ISBN   979-8-216-02661-7.
  3. ↑ Langston, Christopher A. (December 1994). "Capitalizing on and coping with daily-life events: Expressive responses to positive events". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 67 (6): 1112–1125. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.6.1112. ISSN   1939-1315.
  4. ↑ Gable, Shelly L.; Reis, Harry T. (2010-01-01), Chapter 4 - Good News! Capitalizing on Positive Events in an Interpersonal Context, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 42, Academic Press, pp. 195–257, doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(10)42004-3, ISBN   978-0-12-374492-0 , retrieved 2025-01-10
  5. ↑ Peters, Brett J.; Reis, Harry T.; Gable, Shelly L. (2018). "Making the good even better: A review and theoretical model of interpersonal capitalization". Social and Personality Psychology Compass. 12 (7): e12407. doi:10.1111/spc3.12407. ISSN   1751-9004.
  6. 1 2 Gable, Shelly L.; Reis, Harry T.; Impett, Emily A.; Asher, Evan R. (August 2004). "What Do You Do When Things Go Right? The Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Benefits of Sharing Positive Events". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 87 (2): 228–245. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.2.228. ISSN   1939-1315. PMID   15301629.
  7. ↑ Gable, Shelly L.; Gonzaga, Gian C.; Strachman, Amy (November 2006). "Will you be there for me when things go right? Supportive responses to positive event disclosures". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 91 (5): 904–917. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.91.5.904. ISSN   1939-1315. PMID   17059309.
  8. ↑ Diener, Ed; Seligman, Martin E.P. (2002-01-01). "Very Happy People". Psychological Science. 13 (1): 81–84. doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00415. ISSN   0956-7976. PMID   11894851.
  9. ↑ Lucas, R. E.; Dyrenforth (2006). "Does the Existence of Social Relationships Matter for Subjective Well-Being?". The Guilford Press: 254–273.
  10. ↑ Fowler, James H.; Christakis, Nicholas A. (2008-12-05). "Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study". BMJ. 337: a2338. doi:10.1136/bmj.a2338. ISSN   0959-8138. PMC   2600606 . PMID   19056788.
  11. ↑ Demir, Melikşah; Orthel-Clark, Haley; Özdemir, Metin; Bayram Özdemir, Sevgi (2015), Demir, Melikşah (ed.), "Friendship and Happiness Among Young Adults", Friendship and Happiness, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 117–135, doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9603-3_7, ISBN   978-94-017-9602-6 , retrieved 2025-01-10
  12. ↑ Demir, Melikşah; Özdemir, Metin; Weitekamp, Lesley A. (2007-06-01). "Looking to happy tomorrows with friends: Best and close friendships as they predict happiness". Journal of Happiness Studies. 8 (2): 243–271. doi:10.1007/s10902-006-9025-2. ISSN   1573-7780.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.