Truth and Wishful Thinking: How Interindividual Differences in Communal Motives Manifest in Momentary Partner Perceptions

Abstract

Although rooted in reality, partner perceptions often reflect wishful thinking due to perceivers' needs. Dispositional needs, or motives, can differ between persons; however, little is known about their differential associations with everyday partner perception. The present study used data from a 4-week experience sampling study (N = up to 60942 surveys from 510 individuals nested in 259 couples) to examine the effects of perceivers' partner-related implicit and explicit communal motives on the perception of (i) global communal partner behaviour and (ii) specific communal and uncommunal partner behaviours. The results of truth and bias models of judgement and quasi-signal detection analyses indicate that strong implicit communal approach motives and strong explicit communal motives are associated with the tendency to overestimate the partner's communal behaviour. Additionally, strong implicit communal approach motives were associated with the tendency to avoid perceptions of uncommunal partner behaviour. Neither implicit nor explicit communal motives had an effect on accuracy in the perception of particularly communal partner behaviour. The results highlight the relevance of both implicit and explicit communal motives for momentary partner perceptions and emphasise the benefits of dyadic microlongitudinal designs for a better understanding of the mechanisms through which individual differences manifest in couples' everyday lives.

Recalling Experiences: Looking at Momentary, Retrospective and Global Assessments of Relationship Satisfaction

“…been used by Zygar et al (2018a), the data of both studies by Pusch, Schönbrodt, Zygar-Hoffmann, and Hagemeyer (2019), as well as Schönbrodt, Zygar-Hoffmann, Nestler, Pusch, and Hagemeyer (2019). The results of these papers overlap with the analyses reported in the current paper only in basic descriptive statistics.…”

“…Additionally, the explicit desire for closeness had a positive moderating effect on the assessment of the annoyance item, whereas individuals' explicit desire for being alone had a negative moderating effect on the relationship mood item. Previous research already shows that motivational variables influence the recall of autobiographical events (e.g., what experiences are remembered, Woike, 1995; or how the partner behaved, Pusch et al, 2019). It is assumed that during memory retrieval individuals' explicit motives modulate which experiences they capitalize on, namely events that support or were key in changing their self-concept of their goals (Woike, 2008).…”

Motivated behavior in intimate relationships: Comparing the predictive value of motivational variables

“…As we assessed dyadic data which cannot be fully anonymized without losing the assignment of individuals to dyads, we published our data as a scientific use file . The data have previously been used by Pusch, Schönbrodt, Zygar-Hoffmann, and Hagemeyer (2020), Schönbrodt et al (2019), as well as Zygar-Hoffmann 1) Other research questions were also preregistered, which are not covered in the current manuscript. The preregistration mentions several possible exploratory analyses; in this manuscript we focus on the confirmatory preregistered hypotheses, which are referred to as research goals 4A, 4B, 5A and 5B in the preregistration.…”

Preprint: Perception of Communal Motives in Couples: Accuracy, Bias, and their Associations with Relationship Length

“…Previous research on partner perception has provided evidence that individuals can accurately assess their partners' communal characteristics. Accuracy has been demonstrated, for instance, for perceptions of partners' communal responsiveness and care (Lemay & Clark, 2008;Lemay et al, 2007;Lemay & Neal, 2013;Von Culin et al, 2017), communal regard (Overall et al, 2012), emotional support (Priem et al, 2009), sacrifices , or momentary closeness behavior (Pusch et al, 2020;Sadikaj et al, 2017). Because such partner acts are instrumental to establishing or maintaining communal experiences in the relationship, they can be conceptualized as expressions of partners' underlying communal motive dispositions (Horowitz et al, 2006).…”

“…In line with previous research (e.g., Gable, 2006;Kuster et al, 2015;Strachman & Gable, 2006), we expected that strong communal approach motives would be associated with an overestimation of the partner's communal orientation, whereas strong communal avoidance motives should manifest in an underestimation. Indeed, a recent study by Pusch et al (2020) suggests that communal approach and avoidance motives differently bias partner perception. Whereas perceivers with strong explicit communal motives or strong implicit communal approach motives systematically overestimated their partner's momentary communal behavior, strong implicit communal avoidance motives were associated with systematic underestimation.…”