Attributions—the explanations spouses give to each other's behavior—have been consistently linked to relationship satisfaction, but little is known about the origins of attributional tendencies. In this study, an actor–partner interdependence model was tested to examine the relationships among pessimistic attributions, anxious attachment, and relationship satisfaction, using married couples (N = 767) from The German Family Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (pairfam; Huinink et al., 2011). For husbands and wives, higher levels of anxious attachment predicted more pessimistic attributions 2 years later. These pessimistic attributions, in turn, predicted their own later relationship satisfaction. Husbands' pessimistic attributions also predicted lower wives' relationship satisfaction. Pessimistic attributions fully mediated the relationship between anxious attachment and relationship satisfaction within spouses. It may be beneficial when intervening with couples to facilitate improvement in their attachment security and thereby promote more optimistic attributions and higher relationship satisfaction.

Self-esteem may be associated with romantic partners' experience of emotional support and caregiving. Using a sample of 6,385 heterosexual couples in committed relationships gathered from the RELATionship Evaluation (RELATE) data set (see www.relate-institute.org), structural equation modeling was used to compare two actor-partner interdependence models examining the associations between both partners' self-esteem and perceptions of partner caregiving responsiveness (i.e., accessibility, responsiveness, and engagement). Male and female self-esteem was significantly related to partners' caregiving responsiveness while controlling for family-of-origin attachment experiences and relationship stability. Female self-esteem was also significantly associated with females' caregiving responsiveness. These findings yield important implications, demonstrating that higher self-esteem may be associated with improved caregiving behaviors between romantic partners. Relevant implications and future research directions are discussed.

This study investigates longitudinally predictors and outcomes of sliding (a desire to avoid clarifying the status of a romantic relationship; measured as relationship talk avoidance) among emerging adults (N = 244) in cyclical (ending and renewing a relationship) and noncyclical romantic relationships. Avoidance of relationship talk was positively associated with relationship uncertainty 7 weeks earlier and negatively related to dedication and satisfaction 7 weeks later, through decreased relationship maintenance (measured by constructive communication). We hypothesized that sliding would both predict and be predicted by lower dedication. Dedication did not predict later sliding for cyclical partners, but was associated with lower sliding for noncyclical partners, suggesting dedication may buffer the negative impact of uncertainty for noncycling partners.

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