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.

A safe haven: an attachment theory perspective on support seeking and caregiving in intimate relationships.

Abstract: This study used an attachment theoretical framework to investigate support-seeking and caregiving processes in intimate relationships. Dating couples (N = 93) were videotaped while one member of the couple (support seeker) disclosed a personal problem to his or her partner (caregiver). Results indicated that when support seekers rated their problem as more stressful, they engaged in more direct support-seeking behavior, which led their partners to respond with more helpful forms of caregiving. Responsive caregiving then led seekers to feel cared for and to experience improved mood. Evidence for individual differences was also obtained: Avoidant attachment predicted ineffective support seeking, and anxious attachment predicted poor caregiving. Finally, couples in better functioning relationships engaged in more supportive interactions, and participants' perceptions of their interaction were biased by relationship quality and attachment style.

Co–Rumination in the Friendships of Girls and Boys

Abstract: This research addresses a new construct, co-rumination Co-rumination refers to extensively discussing and revisiting problems, speculating about problems, and focusing on negative feelings Friendship research indicates that self-disclosure leads to close relationships; however, coping research indicates that dwelling on negative topics leads to emotional difficulties Co-rumination is a single construct that integrates both perspectives and is proposed to be related both to positive friendship adjustment and problematic emotional adjustment Third-, fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-grade participants (N = 608) responded to questionnaires, including a new measure of co-rumination Co-rumination was related to high-quality, close friendships and aspects of depression and anxiety Girls reported co-ruminating more than did boys, which helped to account for girls' more positive friendship adjustment and greater internalizing symptoms Other analyses addressed whether co-rumination and the related constructs of self-disclosure and rumination had different relations with friendship and emotional adjustment

The development of companionship and intimacy.

Abstract: This study is concerned with the development of companionship and intimacy. Subjects in the second fifth and eighth grades (mean ages respectively 7.5 10.4 and 13.4) rated the importance and extent of companionship and intimate disclosure experienced in social life in general and in each of 8 types of relationships. Companionship was perceived as a desired social provision at all 3 grade levels. Family members were important providers of companionship for children in the second and fifth grades but they became significantly less so in the eighth grade. Same-sex peers were important providers across all 3 grades and they became increasingly important as children grew older. Opposite-sex peers did not become important as companions until the eighth grade. Counter to expectations there were no age differences in the global desire for intimacy. Parents were important providers of intimate disclosure for the youngest children but they were less important among the younger adolescents. There was mixed support for the hypothesis that same-sex friends become important providers of intimacy during preadolescence. Findings were different for boys and girls suggesting that girls seek intimate disclosure in friendship at younger ages than boys do. (authors)