A Dual-Process Perspective on How Sexual Experiences Shape Automatic Versus Explicit Relationship Satisfaction: Reply to Brody, Costa, Klapilová, and Weiss (2018)

The Unbearable Automaticity of Being . . . in a Close Relationship

“…In particular, it remains unclear exactly when automatic partner attitudes exert their effects. In fact, although they eventually predict relationship processes and outcomes over time as described previously, automatic partner attitudes do not appear to be correlated with subjective relationship evaluations reported concurrently (Banse et al, 2013; Hicks et al, 2016, 2018; LeBel & Campbell, 2013; McNulty et al, 2013; Scinta & Gable, 2007). We argue that addressing this mystery can help relationship scientists understand how relationship satisfaction declines over time despite people’s powerful and seemingly effective motivations to protect it.…”

“…Finally, in a direct test of the role of motivated processes in these evaluations, Hicks et al (2018) demonstrated that the frequency of orgasm during sex was associated with automatic partner attitudes, whereas sexual frequency was associated only with deliberate reports of relationship satisfaction for participants who believed frequent sex was important for relationship health. Such evidence supports the idea that people’s automatic partner evaluations’ may track rewarding and costly experiences related to their partners in a way that is less susceptible to their motivations and preexisting beliefs.…”

“…In contrast, studies that have utilized both deliberative and automatic evaluations suggest that automatic evaluations may be less susceptible to motivated processes (Hicks et al, 2016, 2018; McNulty et al, 2017; Murray et al, 2010; Zayas & Shoda, 2015). For example, Zayas and Shoda (2015) demonstrated that participants’ automatic partner attitudes are marked by both positive and negative evaluative associations, although their subjective reports do not capture this ambivalence, which is consistent with the idea that most interdependent relationships involve experiences that are both rewarding and costly.…”

“…It has been nearly 20 years since Bargh and Chartrand (1999) published their influential American Psychologist piece, “The Unbearable Automaticity of Being,” on the ubiquitous nature of automatic processes—those that occur unintentionally, effortlessly, uncontrollably, and often without awareness. Yet it has been only recently that the study of automaticity within close relationships has begun to flourish (Banse et al, 2013; Faure, Righetti, Seibel, & Hofmann, 2018; Hicks, McNulty, Meltzer, & Olson, 2016, 2018; LeBel & Campbell, 2013; Lee, Rogge, & Reis, 2010; McNulty, Baker, & Olson, 2014; McNulty, Meltzer, Makhanova, & Maner, 2018; McNulty, Olson, Jones, & Acosta, 2017; McNulty, Olson, Meltzer, & Shaffer, 2013; Murray, Holmes, & Pinkus, 2010; Murray et al, 2011; Murray, Seery, Lamarche, Kondrak, & Gomillion, 2019; Scinta & Gable, 2007; Zayas & Shoda, 2015; see McNulty & Olson, 2015). This review has three goals.…”

The Case for Studying Implicit Social Cognition in Close Relationships

“…Similarly, among newlywed couples, frequency of sex-an activity that is likely to contribute to partnerpositive associations-as reported by either one or both relationship partners, was positively associated with increased automatic partner attitudes over the course of the relationship according to an evaluative priming task (Hicks et al, 2016). As a comparison, the same association involving deliberate attitudes was only significant for people perceiving such information as a valid basis to update their self-reported judgments-those who believed that sex is important for relationship quality (Hicks et al, 2018).…”