Betty S. Witcher

Bio: Betty S. Witcher is an academic researcher from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The author has contributed to research in topics: Two-factor theory of emotion & Interpersonal attraction. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 4 publications receiving 826 citations.

Willingness to Sacrifice in Close Relationships

Abstract: The authors advance an interdependence analysis of willingness to sacrifice. Support for model predictions was revealed in 6 studies (3 cross-sectional survey studies, 1 simulation experiment, 2 longitudinal studies) that used a novel self-report measure and a behavioral measure of willingness to sacrifice. Willingness to sacrifice was associated with strong commitment, high satisfaction, poor alternatives, and high investments; feelings of commitment largely mediated the associations of these variables with willingness to sacrifice. Moreover, willingness to sacrifice was associated with superior couple functioning, operationalized in terms of level of dyadic adjustment and probability of couple persistence. In predicting adjustment, willingness to sacrifice accounted for significant variance beyond commitment, partially mediating the link between commitment and adjustment; such mediation was not significant for persistence.

Arousal and attraction: Evidence for automatic and controlled processes.

Abstract: A meta-analysis, a review, and an experiment investigated the effect of arousal on attraction. The meta-analysis examined experiments that manipulated arousal level. Results indicated that arousal affects attraction even when the arousal source is relatively unambiguous. In contrast, a review of experiments that manipulated arousal source ambiguity suggested that arousal exerts a stronger influence on attraction when arousal sources are greater in ambiguity. The authors proposed a judgment and adjustment model that states that arousal automatically affects judgments of attraction but that individuals can correct (i.e., adjust) for this automatic effect when the arousal source is unambiguous. Consistent with this model, an experiment provided evidence that cognitive busyness interferes with the adjustment process.

Commitment and Trust in Close Relationships

Abstract: Sometimes everyday involvement with a close partner is relatively easy. When partners’ goals are compatible and their circumstances of interdependence are congenial, couples can readily achieve desirable outcomes such as intimacy, companionship, and security. The true test of a relationship arises when existing circumstances are not so congenial—when partners confront problematic constraints or dilemmas centering on differing activity preferences, hostile patterns of interaction, extrarelationship temptation, or incompatible life goals. In such situations, the immediate interests of one or both individuals may well be incompatible with the interests of the partner or relationship. Behavior in such uncongenial situations is revealing of individuals’ dispositions, values, and goals.

When groups are more competitive than individuals: the domain of the discontinuity effect.

Abstract: The related goals of the research were to delineate the domain of discontinuity, 1st by demonstrating its occurrence in a nonmatrix situation and, 2nd, by establishing the antecedent outcome conditions necessary for producing a discontinuity effect. The 1st goal was met by designing a mixed motive situation involving the production of origami products. Under these conditions, the magnitude of the discontinuity effect did not significantly differ from that in a matrix-only condition. The 2nd goal was met by a separate experiment that used H. H. Kelley and J. W. Thibaut's (1978) analysis of degree of noncorrespondence of outcomes. This experiment demonstrated that as noncorrespondence increased, so did the rate of competitive responding by groups but not by individuals. This pattern was qualified by an interaction with gender such that competitiveness was more markedly affected by noncorrespondence for groups of women than for groups of men.

The Investment Model Scale: Measuring commitment level, satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size

Abstract: Three studies evaluated the reliability and validity of the Investment Model Scale, an instrument designed to measure four constructs, including commitment level and three bases of dependence-satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. In all three studies, reliability analyses revealed good internal consistency among items designed to measure each construct. Also, principal components analyses performed on scale items revealed evidence of four factors, with items designed to measure each construct loading on independent factors. Studies 2 and 3 examined associations of model variables with instruments measuring diverse qualities of relationships and assorted personal dispositions. As anticipated, Investment Model variables were moderately associated with other measures reflecting superior couple functioning (e.g., dyadic adjustment, trust level, inclusion of other in the self), and were essentially unrelated to measures assessing personal dispositions (e.g., need for cognition, self-esteem). In addition, Study 3 demonstrated that earlier measures of Investment Model variables predicted later levels of dyadic adjustment and later relationship status (persisted vs ended). It is hoped that the existence of a reliable and valid Investment Model Scale will promote further research regarding commitment and interdependence in ongoing close relationships.

"Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of emotional state": Erratum

Abstract: The problem of which cues, internal or external, permit a person to label and identify his own emotional state has been with us since the days that James (1890) first tendered his doctrine that \"the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur is the emotion\" (p. 449). Since we are aware of a variety of feeling and emotion states, it should follow from James' proposition that the various emotions will be accompanied by a variety of differentiable bodily states. Following James' pronouncement, a formidable number of studies were undertaken in search of the physiological differentiators of the emotions. The results, in these early days, were almost uniformly negative. All of the emotional states experi-

Emotion and Decision Making

Abstract: A revolution in the science of emotion has emerged in recent decades, with the potential to create a paradigm shift in decision theories. The research reveals that emotions constitute potent, pervasive, predictable, sometimes harmful and sometimes beneficial drivers of decision making. Across different domains, important regularities appear in the mechanisms through which emotions influence judgments and choices. We organize and analyze what has been learned from the past 35 years of work on emotion and decision making. In so doing, we propose the emotion-imbued choice model, which accounts for inputs from traditional rational choice theory and from newer emotion research, synthesizing scientific models.

Prosocial Behavior: Multilevel Perspectives

Abstract: Current research on prosocial behavior covers a broad and diverse range of phenomena. We argue that this large research literature can be best organized and understood from a multilevel perspective. We identify three levels of analysis of prosocial behavior: (a) the “meso” level—the study of helper-recipient dyads in the context of a specific situation; (b) the micro level—the study of the origins of prosocial tendencies and the sources of variation in these tendencies; and (c) the macro level—the study of prosocial actions that occur within the context of groups and large organizations. We present research at each level and discuss similarities and differences across levels. Finally, we consider ways in which theory and research at these three levels of analysis might be combined in future intra- and interdisciplinary research on prosocial behavior.