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The Predictive Validity of Explicit and Implicit Partner Evaluations for Relationship Behaviors: An Actor-Partner
Sascha Krause1, Michael Dufner1
1Department of Psychology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Journal of Personality Assessment
|July 16, 2019
Summary
Novel tools measuring explicit and implicit romantic partner evaluations effectively predict relationship behaviors. These validated measures offer new insights into relationship dynamics and partner interactions.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Relationship Science
- Psychophysiology
Background:
- Understanding romantic relationship dynamics is crucial for mental well-being.
- Existing measures of partner evaluation may not capture the full spectrum of explicit and implicit attitudes.
- Predicting observable relationship behaviors from internal evaluations remains a key challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and validate novel measures for assessing explicit and implicit romantic partner evaluations.
- To determine the predictive validity of these novel measures on video-observed relationship behaviors.
- To explore the association between explicit/implicit evaluations and actor, partner, and couple-level relationship behaviors.
Main Methods:
- 180 heterosexual participants (90 couples) completed explicit measures: Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS) and Trier Partnership Inventory (TPI-S).
- Implicit measures included two Affective Priming Tasks (APT variants: reaction time-APT and error-based APT) and facial electromyography (fEMG).
- Relationship behaviors were video-recorded and coded by 34 independent observers; actor-partner interdependence models were employed.
Main Results:
- Explicit measures (RAS, TPI-S) significantly predicted relationship behaviors at actor, partner, and couple levels.
- Implicit measures, specifically the error-based APT (EB-APT) and fEMG, also demonstrated predictive validity for relationship behaviors.
- The reaction time-based APT (RT-APT) did not significantly predict observed relationship behaviors.
Conclusions:
- The study successfully introduced novel, validated tools for measuring explicit and implicit romantic partner evaluations.
- These measures, particularly RAS, TPI-S, EB-APT, and fEMG, are robust predictors of observable relationship behaviors.
- Findings provide researchers with enhanced methods for studying relationship quality and interpersonal dynamics.
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