The Manhattan effect: when relationship commitment fails to promote support for partners' interests
Chin Ming Hui1, Eli J Finkel2, Gráinne M Fitzsimons3
1Booth School of Business.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|March 26, 2014
Summary
Relationship commitment typically supports a partner's interests, but this support weakens when partner interests conflict with relationship well-being. This phenomenon, the Manhattan effect, highlights commitment's focus on relationship, not just partner, promotion.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Relationship Science
Background:
- Close relationship research often assumes partner and relationship interests are aligned.
- Previous studies have explored how commitment influences behavior towards partners and the relationship.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how relationship commitment affects support for a partner's personal interests, especially when these conflict with relationship interests.
- To differentiate between partner-oriented and relationship-oriented motivations in goal pursuit.
- To introduce and define the 'Manhattan effect'.
Main Methods:
- A series of 9 studies were conducted.
- Studies involved examining goal-directed behaviors and motivation in various relationship contexts.
- Experimental designs were used to manipulate the perceived threat of partner interests to the relationship.
Main Results:
- Relationship commitment generally promotes support for a partner's personal interests.
- This pro-partner effect diminishes as the partner's interests increasingly threaten the relationship.
- In high-threat situations, commitment's effect can reverse, leading to reduced support for the partner (Manhattan effect).
- Commitment specifically strengthens the link between relationship-oriented motivation and goal pursuit, not partner-oriented motivation.
Conclusions:
- Relationship commitment primarily serves to promote the interests of the relationship itself, rather than solely the partner's interests.
- The Manhattan effect demonstrates a boundary condition for the positive influence of commitment on pro-partner behavior.
- Partner-versus-relationship conflicts are crucial for understanding the nuanced role of commitment in close relationships.
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