Interpersonal relationship

About: Interpersonal relationship is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 22392 publications have been published within this topic receiving 937957 citations. The topic is also known as: interpersonal status & relationship.

Public perceptions and experiences of social distancing and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic: a UK-based focus group study.

Abstract: Objective This study explored UK public perceptions and experiences of social distancing and social isolation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Design This qualitative study comprised five focus groups, carried out online during the early stages of the UK’s stay at home order (‘lockdown’), and analysed using a thematic approach. Setting Focus groups took place via online videoconferencing. Participants Participants (n=27) were all UK residents aged 18 years and older, representing a range of gender, ethnic, age and occupational backgrounds. Results Qualitative analysis revealed four main themes: (1) loss—participants’ loss of (in-person) social interaction, loss of income and loss of structure and routine led to psychological and emotional ‘losses’ such as loss of motivation, loss of meaning and loss of self-worth; (2) criticisms of government communication—participants reported a lack of trust in government and a lack of clarity in the guidelines around social distancing and isolation; (3) adherence—participants reported high self-adherence to social distancing guidelines but reported seeing or hearing of non-adherence in others; (4) uncertainty around social reintegration and the future—some participants felt they would have lingering concerns over social contact while others were eager to return to high levels of social activity. Most participants, and particularly those in low-paid or precarious employment, reported feeling that the social distancing and isolation associated with COVID-19 policy has had negative impacts on their mental health and well-being during the early stages of the UK’s ‘lockdown’. Conclusions A rapid response is necessary in terms of public health programming to mitigate the mental health impacts of COVID-19 social distancing and isolation. Social distancing and isolation ‘exit strategies’ must account for the fact that, although some individuals will voluntarily or habitually continue to socially distance, others will seek high levels of social engagement as soon as possible.

Making the connection: randomized controlled trial of social skills at school for children with autism spectrum disorders.

Abstract: Peer relationships are critically important to children’s success at school. Many studies describe the benefits of healthy social development on children’s emotional, social, and academic performance at school (Ladd, 1990; McClelland, Morrison, & Holmes, 2000; Oden & Asher, 1977). Despite the importance of social relationships at school, some children may be particularly prone to feeling isolated and having few peer relationships, as is commonly noted about children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Interventions are needed to build peer interaction skills of children with ASD, and generally fall into two categories. Direct training is the most common of the two, in which social skills training is provided directly to the child with autism, either in groups or individual contexts (Bellini, Peters, Benner, & Hope, 2007; Rao, Beidel, & Murray, 2008; Williams-White, Keonig, & Scahill, 2007). The active ingredient is direct instruction of the child’s social skills (e.g., social etiquette or how to take turns in conversation). Peer-mediated models, on the other hand, focus intervention on the peers of the child with ASD (Bellini et al., 2007; Rao et al., 2008). In peer-mediated models, the active ingredient is indirect, by training peers how to engage the child with ASD. Both approaches have theoretical and empirical support, but both are missing important evidence of efficacy. For example, direct training approaches tend to occur outside of natural contexts. Variants on this intervention model have sometimes shown promising outcomes, but generalization to school and community settings has been poor or unmeasured (Bellini et al., 2007; Rao et al., 2008; Williams-White et al., 2007). On the other hand, peer-mediated models have shown good outcomes and generalization for preschool children, but have not been rigorously tested among school-aged children (McConnell, 2002). There has not yet been a controlled study comparing the efficacy or maintenance of these two types of socialization interventions. It is highly likely that children who receive both models will perform better than children who receive only a single model. The two interventions may work synergistically leading to an effect greater than the sum of their parts. Thus, by developing children’s social skills they can take advantage of peer willingness to engage. All interventions are expected to be superior to inclusion alone. The objective of this randomized controlled trial was to compare the efficacy of school-based social skills interventions to improve the social salience and peer engagement of high functioning, fully included children with autism. Our secondary goals were to examine the effect of interventions on friendship nominations, friendship reciprocity and teacher report of social skills.

Failures in Upward Communication in Organizations: Three Possible Culprits

Abstract: The impact of trust in the superior, perceived influence of the superior, and mobility aspirations of subordinates on upward communication behavior was examined. While the importance of trust as a ...

Love and the commitment problem in romantic relations and friendship.

Abstract: On the basis of the proposition that love promotes commitment, the authors predicted that love would motivate approach, have a distinct signal, and correlate with commitment-enhancing processes when relationships are threatened. The authors studied romantic partners and adolescent opposite-sex friends during interactions that elicited love and threatened the bond. As expected, the experience of love correlated with approach-related states (desire, sympathy). Providing evidence for a nonverbal display of love, four affiliation cues (head nods, Duchenne smiles, gesticulation, forward leans) correlated with self-reports and partner estimates of love. Finally, the experience and display of love correlated with commitment-enhancing processes (e.g., constructive conflict resolution, perceived trust) when the relationship was threatened. Discussion focused on love, positive emotion, and relationships. Things base and vile, holding no quantity, Love can transform to form and dignity, Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. —William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream In Shakespeare's reflection on love, one finds a poignant truth that resonates with experience: In transforming the mundane into the sublime, love can seem blind, irrational, and disconnected from what seems to be true and real. This observation dovetails with our ensuing theoretical analysis of the momentary experience of love. Yet we also take exception with what the great bard has to say about this emotion. Unlike Shakespeare, we contend that people also see love with their eyes; that love has a physical side that is evident in movements of the face and the body that prompt the mind's more sublime operations. More specifically, we propose that the momentary experience of love helps intimate partners remain committed to one another (e.g., Frank, 1988; Steinberg, 1986). This treatment of love as a commitment device leads to the following hypotheses. In terms of the experience of love, we posited that love would correlate with approach-related states. In terms of the display of love, we expected that the experience of love would be encoded in a distinct

Shared Reality, System Justification, and the Relational Basis of Ideological Beliefs

Abstract: Although it is tempting to think that one’s political convictions reflect independent and unbiased thinking, research increasingly suggests that ideologies reflect motivational processes. The present paper integrates system justification and shared reality theories to propose that ideologies may function as prepackaged units of interpretation that spread because of basic human motives to understand the world, avoid existential threat, and maintain valued interpersonal relationships. The authors review evidence suggesting that affiliative motives may influence ideological beliefs to align with the progressive or conservative views shared within a given relationship or group. At the same time, such motives may lead disproportionately to the adoption of system-justifying worldviews. Implications for the context dependence of ideological convictions, the role that shared reality may play in group conflicts, and the relational bases of revolutionary change are discussed. Often our need for others is not love at all but only the need to be sustained in our illusions, even as we sustain others in theirs. – Thomas Merton (1979, 23)