#CommSoWEIRD

When intrafaith couples' religion strictly prohibits premarital sexual intercourse, negotiating sexual intimacy can become a multilayered process of identity negotiation that compounds the difficulty of sexual communication. Through the lens of relational turbulence theory, this study explored how devout Christian couples negotiate sexual intimacy by reanalyzing qualitative interview data the first author collected in 2017 from 16 self‐identified Christians (8 heterosexual couples). Seven themes revealed how relational uncertainty, partner interference, and partner facilitation manifested in the context of sexual intimacy negotiation. Themes of relational uncertainty experience and prevention included assumption of shared values, relationship talk, and sexual behaviors as an uncertainty catalyst. Partner facilitation and interference emerged as themes of sexual escalation and de‐escalation including snowball effect, pinpointing underlying motivations for boundary violations, gatekeeping sexual temptation, and drawing from shared values of sacrifice and prayer. These interpretive findings advance the literature on relational turbulence theory and provide Christian dating couples with practical advice for how to negotiate sexual intimacy in committed premarital relationships.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Some days are much holier than others”: Relational uncertainty and partner influence in Christian dating couples' sexual intimacy negotiation

Hodges

Bevan

2023

“…A major strength of the current study was its use of a Census‐matched representative sample of U.S. American adults, which substantially increases external validity. Unfortunately, research in interpersonal communication is seldom representative of the population and tends to overrepresent the experiences of particular groups although simultaneously underrepresenting the experiences of others (Afifi & Cornejo, 2020). Due to the Census‐matched sample, the likelihood that individuals will experience affection deprivation or excessive affection is known and can be generalized to the larger population.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Affection deprivation is more aversive than excessive affection: A test of affection exchange theory

Hesse

Floyd

Mikkelson

2022

Affection exchange theory predicts that both excessive affection and affection deprivation are associated with poorer health, compared with receiving the level of affectionate communication that one desires. A similar yet‐untested prediction is that affection deprivation is more aversive than excessive affection. This preregistered study tested both hypotheses on a battery of mental and physical health outcomes, including depression, loneliness, stress, physical pain, frequency of nightmares, and sleep quality, using a Census‐matched sample of U.S. American adults (N = 827). As hypothesized, receiving the right amount of affection was associated with more health‐supportive scores on all outcomes than either excessive or deficient affection. Similarly, excessive affection was associated with lower depression, loneliness, stress, and pain, and higher sleep quality, than affection deprivation.

“…Consider a recent editorial essay for the Southern Journal of Communication in which Bates (2021) was critical of communication research being WEIRD. Bates (2021), Henrich et al (2010), Afifi and Cornejo (2020), and others have noted concerns with the overreliance on samples that are Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic, the most important of which is that WEIRD samples “are not representative of most human beings” (Bates, 2021, p. 1). We believe the description of WEIRD applies to much affection research, which consequently does not represent the lived experiences of much of the world.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Affectionate communication, health, and relationships

Floyd

Debrot

Horan

et al. 2022

A robust body of research attests to the mental and physical health correlates and consequences of affectionate communication. Like much research on personal relationships, however, this work may overrepresent certain portions of the population, may underrepresent others, and may not effectively account for intersections of identities. We define intersectionality as comprising the unique effects of two or more social identities interacting with each other. To assess this literature with an eye toward intersectionality and representation, the present paper reports a systematic review of 86 individual empirical studies representing 26,013 participants. The review concludes that there is no explicit or implicit attention to intersectionality in the existing research on affectionate communication and health, and that U.S. Americans, women, younger individuals, white individuals, and students are overrepresented in research samples. The review ends with future directions to encourage more inclusive research on this topic.