Love Research Articles

Love Under Duress: How Burnout Mediates the Relationship Between Partner Stress and the Perception of Romantic Partner Support

Love Under Duress: How Burnout Mediates the Relationship Between Partner Stress and the Perception of Romantic Partner Support

The Hidden Weight of Relationships: How Support and Strain Shape Well-being in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Youth.

Although celebrated for supporting well-being, social relationships can also bring conflict and stress. Despite extensive focus on their bright side-social support-less attention is paid to their dark side-social strain-especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged young adults in high-stress conditions. This study examined how support and strain from parents, friends, and romantic partners contribute to youth well-being, in a Canadian sample of 384 young adults in their early 20s. Participants were on average 20.3 years old (SD = 0.9), evenly split by gender (50% women), 49% without a high school diploma, and 32% with an immigrant parent. Latent class analysis revealed four profiles, splitting the sample roughly in halves. A first half of youth were in two profiles characterized by supportive, strain-free relationships: (1) Wrap-Around Support (high support, low strain from all sources; 16%) and (2) Supported Singles (high support, low strain but not in couple; 30%) profiles. A second half experienced one or more straining relationships and belonged to either (3) Double-Edged (straining parents and partner, but also supportive partner; 24%) or (4) Isolated (straining parents and low support; 30%). Profile comparisons showed that young adults in the Wrap-Around Support profile enjoyed the highest level of well-being, followed by Supported Singles, with the two subgroups in straining relationships showing no differences. A moderation analysis revealed a reverse buffering effect: Stressors weakened the benefits of social support. The results suggest that the "bad" side of relationships can weigh down their "good" side, and that alleviating the burdens of social and other life stressors is as important as strengthening social support for young people to thrive.

Exploring Sexual Reminiscing After the Death of a Romantic Partner

ABSTRACT The death of a romantic partner results in major changes to the surviving partner’s psychological and physical well-being, yet post-bereavement sexual experiences are often disregarded in both research and clinical settings. Continuing bonds theory suggests that an internal emotional bond can persist between the bereaved and the memory of the deceased after the physical end of the relationship; that is, continuing bonds are often maintained through reminiscing about the deceased. On this premise, we suggest and demonstrate that sexual bonds are also maintained through reminiscing. A sample of 165 Canadian individuals who were bereaved of a prior romantic partner were recruited via Leger panels, social media, and online grief forums to complete an online survey. Sexual reminiscing was very common (80.5% of participants sexually reminisced about the deceased), frequent (31.8% of participants sexually reminisced about the deceased once a week or more), and generally positively valenced. We used multiple regression to understand who sexually reminisced more frequently and who evaluated those experiences as more positive. Results indicated that stronger general continuing bonds, higher past sexual satisfaction with the deceased, and higher posttraumatic growth were positively associated with sexual reminiscing frequency, while stronger continuing emotional bonds and past sexual satisfaction were positively associated with sexual reminiscing valence. Findings regarding their relevance to individuals and clinicians (e.g. couples and grief therapists) are discussed.

Romantic partners’ meanings of risk during COVID-19: the role of socioeconomic factors

Socioeconomic status (SES) creates disparities in exposure to health and economic risk, but further research is needed to determine how socioeconomic factors influence (1) what risk means to people in romantic relationships, and (2) how couples’ co-constructed meanings of risk affect their relationship trajectory. The experiences of young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic provide a pertinent case to study this. During such a critical and uncertain life course stage, the pandemic’s fallout exacerbated existing SES inequality, and forced couples to navigate the risk of pandemic infection alongside the risk of financial loss. This paper draws from in-depth, individual interviews with romantic partners ages 18–33 (N = 28, 14 couples) in the United States, to analyse the role of two socioeconomic factors (financial resources and occupational advantages) on their co-construction of risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some participants described how their job conditions allowed them to largely avert risk of COVID-19 infection, and the financial resources they had pre-pandemic provided a safety net for them to take opportunistic risks for future financial gain. As a result, they were able to negotiate next steps to deepen their bond. Meanwhile, partners with less of these resources had to negotiate how they would simply be able to get by financially, physically, and in their relationship. Based on these findings, we argue that co-constructed meanings are another mechanism by which SES creates cumulative (dis)advantage, both in couples’ material reality, and in the trajectory of their relationship

Artificial intelligence and psychoanalysis: is it time for psychoanalyst.AI?

The current development of artificial intelligences (AI) is leading to major transformations within society. In this context, we observe how some of these AIs are spontaneously used by individuals as confidants, and even as romantic partners. The emergence of such relationships with AIs raises questions about their integration in psychiatry and the possibility of developing “digital therapists”. In this regard, we highlight four key elements (accessibility and availability; confidentiality; knowledge; memory) to compare what an AI offers in comparison to a human therapist. We also discuss the results of the studies that have already investigated the use of such AIs in psychotherapy, particularly in the fields of depression and anxiety. We then propose to reflect more specifically on the possibility of creating a “psychoanalyst.AI,” which leads us to examine the elements of the therapeutic relationship (transference, free association, play, dreams, reflexivity, and narrativity) with an AI. In conclusion, we offer some reflections on the relevance of considering AIs as “therapeutic artifact,” while taking into account the ethical issues raised by the use of AIs in therapeutic settings.

Future love: age(ing), gender and care in age-dissimilar couples’ imagined futures

Abstract Recent debates on age-dissimilar romantic relationships have centred on newly formed relationships, asking whether they reflect shifts towards more equal and individualistic love, or more malleable and self-determined understandings of age. Yet, in a global context where age dissimilarities are shifting and populations are ageing, little attention has been paid to how these understandings of love and age might play out in couples’ futures, particularly in relation to care and gender. While median marital age differences have decreased in Australia and worldwide in recent decades, there has been a rise in larger gaps. In such cases, one partner will reach old age markedly earlier than the other. This article therefore examines how age-dissimilar couples imagine their futures together. It draws on 24 in-depth interviews with women and men in heterosexual, age-dissimilar relationships in Australia, with age differences of seven to 30 years. Talking about their love relationships, interviewees – especially those in older woman relationships – avoided discussing ageing or described age as meaningless or relative. For them, they argued, appearance, experience, personality and felt age took precedence over chronology. Conversations with older interviewees exposed gaps in this logic, however, and gendered anxieties about old age and responsibility for care. Interviewees’ discussions of their futures thus highlighted tensions in understandings about age(ing), gender, care and love. Love was thought to transcend age differences and facilitate care responsibilities for some but not others. Utilising the concepts of democratisation, responsibility and gendered double standards of ageing and care, this article complicates conceptions wherein age dissimilarities are seen to typify the growing meaninglessness of age and gendered equality of love.

Navigating the Situation: Family Experiences of Jail Incarceration in Rural America

Abstract Jails occupy a distinct place in the criminal legal process where people are incarcerated amidst the uncertainties of pretrial processing, plea negotiations and legal decision making, system entry and exit, and transfers of authority between different criminal legal institutions or informal familial control. This liminality creates an opportunity to examine how families make sense of the different and often contradictory roles available throughout the criminal legal process. Using qualitative interviews with family members and romantic partners of men detained in a rural county jail, this study examines how families both define a role for themselves and make sense of the jail as an institutional support or hindrance in addressing the underlying situation. Four distinct perspectives emerged shaped by both whether family members assumed primary responsibility for managing the incarcerated person’s needs, and whether they perceived the jail to be a constructive or restrictive institution toward achieving their goals for the incarcerated person and family. The intersection of these constructs forms a framework that both captures the experiences of families in the study and sheds light on how this distinct criminal legal context fits within broader literatures on imprisonment, legal processing, and family management.

Social anxiety and romantic conflict: Examining prospective interpersonal dynamics.

Social anxiety and romantic conflict: Examining prospective interpersonal dynamics.

Social support, social constraint, and psychological adjustment in patients with colorectal cancer.

Cancer patients' social networks, particularly their spouses or romantic partners, can promote or undermine their psychological adjustment. This study examined the relative associations of partner social support and social constraint with patients' psychological adjustment and further tested gender's moderating role in these associations. Participants were 124 patients newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer (Mage = 56.6years, 34% female), who completed questionnaires on perceived spousal social support and social constraint, depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction. Findings revealed that greater social constraint was significantly associated with lower life satisfaction regardless of gender; however, greater social constraint was only associated with greater depressive symptoms in male patients. No significant associations or interactions with social support were found. Findings highlight the importance for patients-especially male patients-with cancer to feel able to disclose cancer-related thoughts and feelings to their partners and call for more consistent operationalization and measurement when studying patients' social functioning.

Registered Report Stage II: Does personality vary by relationship power? An investigation of satisfaction in diverse romantic partnerships

Registered Report Stage II: Does personality vary by relationship power? An investigation of satisfaction in diverse romantic partnerships

Roles de género, mitos del amor, dependencia y ciberviolencia de pareja de universitarios

Abstract Affective-romantic bonds are of utmost importance in the construction of the individual’s personality; however, they are not exempt from presenting harmful behaviors, currently, thanks to the emergence of new media these actions move from the physical to the virtual plane, favoring the emergence of Cyber Dating Violence (CDV). Thus, the objective of this research was to describe and analyze this phenomenon and some of the factors associated with the problem in a sample of 589 young university students, where gender roles, myths of romantic love, dependence and CDV were evaluated through the CDAQ scales, GenderRoles Scale, Romantic Love Scale and Love Addiction Scale. From the descriptive, inferential, correlational and linear regression analyses performed, a predominance of dichotomous gender beliefs and idealization of love by men was evidenced. Onthe other hand, a positive association was found, in both subsamples, between the idealization of love, dependence and CDV behaviors, and a relationship between control and direct aggression, both committed and suffered. In conclusion, the dataobtained suggest that cyber dating violence is a bidirectional phenomenon, which is related to the myths of romantic love and dependence.

"Children will Love Like You Do": How Adolescents' Relationships with Parents Predict the Quality of Best Friendships and Romantic Relations.

Despite valuable insights into the predictors of high-quality romantic relationships, research has yet to examine the mediating role of peer relationship characteristics in linking parent-adolescent relationship quality to romantic relationship quality. In two longitudinal studies, the present research tested whether adolescents' relationship quality with best friends mediates the associations between relationship quality with mothers or fathers and relationship quality with romantic partners. In Study 1, 164 adolescents in early to middle adolescence (Mage = 13.76, SD = 0.87; 64% female; 91.5% Dutch ethnical background; 87.4% from intact families) who were in a romantic relationship participated. The sample of Study 2 consisted of 272 adolescents in late adolescence (Mage = 17.23, SD = 0.64; 56% female, 98% Dutch ethical background; 81% from intact families) in a romantic relationship. In both studies, adolescents completed questionnaires about their relationship with their parents at T1, their best friends one year later (T2), and their romantic relationship another year later (T3). The results of Study 1 showed that perceived best friend-adolescent relationship quality at T2 was related to romantic relationship quality at T3. No other significant longitudinal associations were found. The results of Study 2 (n = 272, Mage = 17.23) showed that perceived relationship quality with mothers and fathers was related to perceived romantic relationship quality at T3, and best friends' relationship quality at T2 partially mediated these associations. Overall, the results show that especially during late adolescence, when adolescents have a warm and supportive relationship with their parents, they are more likely to form good quality relationships with peers and, ultimately, intimate and committed romantic relationships.

253 Learning from those who care: Developing materials for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) dementia care partners

Objectives/Goals: • Investigate culturally-specific beliefs, caregiving approaches, care preferences, and unmet needs among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) care partners supporting persons living with dementia • Apply identified findings toward culturally-adapting caregiving resources for AANHPI dementia care partners Methods/Study Population: Qualitative data from the Better Together Dementia Care Study and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Dementia Caregiving Study were analyzed to investigate culturally-specific beliefs, caregiving approaches, preferences, and unmet needs of AANHPI dementia care partners. Both studies remotely conducted and recorded semi-structured interviews (1.5–2.5 hours), with care partners and providers though interview protocols were distinct. Transcripts were AI-generated, through Zoom or Trint, and analyzed using thematic content analysis by two coders. Apriori codes drawn from literature and inductively-identified codes were identified and coded. Preliminary findings informed sociocultural strategies used to adapt existing care partner resources for use in these groups. Results/Anticipated Results: Preliminary analysis of care partner (CP) interviews (N = 8; 4 romantic partners, 4 adult children), revealed differences in caregiving experiences and networks. CPs supporting care receivers (CR) who had emigrated away from extended family networks reported a lack of instrumental support. Most CR (7/8) had adult children, many of whom (6/8) provided some care, though half of CR-child relationships were distant or had past difficulties. Romantic partners were primary CPs while co-caregiving with children; Adult children served as primary CPs for unpartnered CRs (n = 4). Adapted CP resources integrated these findings, acknowledging the complexities of fulfilling traditional filial expectations in light of difficult past relationships. Formal services were framed as an extension of family-coordinated care. Discussion/Significance of Impact: Care partners of immigrants may have limited local family support and may benefit from formal services. Adult children may provide care, though this may be complicated by poor past relationship quality. AANHPI care partners may benefit from culturally-adapted resources which address these issues, though resource acceptability-testing is needed.

The experience of partners of male professional athletes: a systematic review of the literature

A group that also goes through the trials and tribulations of the male elite sportsman’s career is his wife, girlfriend, or romantic partner. Without much attention from researchers, the first-hand experience of wives and girlfriends of professional athletes has not often been captured in the literature. This systematic review aims to capture what currently exists in academic literature about the experience of partners of professional athletes. Nine qualitative studies were selected after meeting criteria for eligibility, relevance, and quality standards. Thematic synthesis was used to analyse the data. Four themes were conceptualised: (i) Experiencing a relationship in the public eye, (ii) What’s behind the curtain?: What outsiders may not be privy to. Being stereotyped in a world of uncertainty, (iii) The partner navigating unchartered waters. Coping with a transient lifestyle and identity, (iv) Two sides of the same coin: Partners managing dissonance. The reality of being the partner of a professional athlete. This review gathered that the experience of being the partner of a male professional athlete is much more similar than distinct across the included sport affiliations and countries of residence. Because of the commonalities, the findings suggest that attempts to improve the standard of support for athletes and their partners could draw on diverse literature from different countries and sporting industries to inform decision-making. Further discussions of strengths, limitations, and directions for future research are included.

Longitudinal trajectories of romantic relational victimization and associations with mastery across adolescence to young adulthood

Relational forms of romantic victimization characterized by attempts to ignore, exclude, or covertly manipulate a romantic partner is an understudied and often overlooked form of intimate partner violence. While cross sectional research demonstrates associations with mental health difficulties, longitudinal patterns of romantic relational victimization (RRV) independent of physical forms of aggression have received relatively less attention, particularly with regards to how patterns of RRV change over the course of adolescence to young adulthood. The current study identifies longitudinal trajectories of RRV in a sample of adolescents (ages 12–18) followed biennially across 10 years ( N = 532). We also assessed how changes in youths’ perceptions of personal mastery and control (i.e., environmental mastery) relate to differences in youths’ longitudinal trajectories of RRV as developmental gains in these competencies may mitigate RRV. Findings from growth mixture models revealed three patterns of RRV characterized by low stable levels across adolescence and young adulthood (87.4%); an adolescent limited trajectory where RRV peaks in adolescence and declines into young adulthood (9.4%); and a young adulthood limited trajectory where RRV increases during young adulthood (3.2%). Our results show that diminished environmental mastery at both life stages was associated with higher rates of victimization. Moreover, the change in mastery over time was also associated with victimization. Trajectories were also associated with relational worries and additional forms of victimization, offering insight into poly-victimization and its negative effects. Our findings reveal heterogeneous patterns of RRV during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood that are differentially related to changes in youths’ development of mastery and control. These findings offer potential targets for prevention.

Accuracy and bias in the perceptions of partner’s negative emotions: the role of trait mindfulness

Theoretical and empirical work suggests that mindfulness is beneficial for close relationships. However, the ways in which mindfulness shapes important relational processes are not well understood. The current study examines the role that trait mindfulness plays in shaping people’s perceptions of their romantic partner’s emotions. In two dyadic studies (Study 1 n = 121 couples; Study 2 n = 138 couples), heterosexual couples engaged in a conversation about a problem in their relationship. Prior to the conversation, participants completed measures of their relational (Study 1) or general trait (Study 2) mindfulness, and then rated their own and their partner’s (negative) emotions immediately following the conflict. Multilevel Truth and Bias models were used to assess accuracy and bias in perceptions. Results revealed that men low in mindfulness overestimated their partner’s negative emotions especially when their partners’ negative emotions were higher, whereas more mindful men did not overestimate their partners’ negative emotions and were less perceptually sensitive to their partner’s higher levels of negative emotions. This pattern of results was less consistent for women. Overall, this study advances understanding of how mindfulness may enhance relationships by suggesting that mindfulness reduces hypervigilance to and overestimation of partner’s negative emotions, particularly for men.

Artificial Love: The Rise of AI in Human Relationships

Abstract: With highly rapid progress in artificial intelligence (AI) technology, AI has evolved dramatically in nearly all aspects of human life, especially private life. This article explores instances of AI as displacement to/ augmentation of human connections, concerning the ramifications of AI-based companions, Robots Daily paper Knowledge Date: December 2023 Today Date: 26 Jul 2024 Rephrase the following sentence. Use the same language as the original sentence. With AI becoming more ordinary in ordinary life, the question is: Can AI truly replicate the tone and subtlety of human connections, or is it only an addition? New AI technologies like chatbots, virtual assistants, and social robots are created to hold a user in a conversation and to give emotional comfort. These advancements indicate that AI can complete information omissions in social interactions when people feel lonely or anxious about being socialized. For instance, AI-powered mental health apps can generate therapeutic conversation as a substitute of companionship. Though these technologies can imitate human contact, they are often compelled to overlook the emotional attunement and comprehend that element of human relationships. The intricacies of human emotions—sourced in shared experiences, feelings, and interpersonal relationships—remain tough for AI to grasp and mimic perfectly. Even in the realm of dating and social connectors, the introduction of AI says something about its future: its potential on human relationships. Sophisticated algorithms are used to screen customer preferences and activities for making connections, simplifying the look for romantic partners. Although these programs can enrich communication by linking people, they also partially end up as the credibility of relationships set up via such software. Users are likely to interact with AI-produced profiles or personas that do not have the emotional or psychological form present in one genuine human interaction. The psychological consequences of having AI as companionship are enormous. At the core of this is that meaningful human relationships are crucial for emotional wellness and lowering feelings of loneliness and general life contentment. Suppose people add AI (Artificial Intelligence) as the primary option for companionship to the picture. In that case, there is a risk of alienating from authentic relationships even more, deepening the feelings of loneliness. The love feeling comes from genuine human interactions, unlike AI, which is based on algorithms and information instead of genuine feeling and true individual connection. Besides, the ethical issues also enter the picture when AI becomes more affirmative about personal relationships. The idea of psycho-emotional influence using AI raises issues about consent and authenticity of emotional perception. AsDesde que la sociedad transitable de éstas complejidades, es necesario definir marcos que pongan en el centro la conexión y el bienestar humano. This encompasses promoting an understanding of the boundaries of AI when it comes to mimicking human emotions and stimulating the creation of technologies that complement, not detract from, interpersonal relationships. AI can increase human relationships by providing assistance and companionship with humanity, but it can not replace human relationships' depth, profundity, and complexity. The subtleties of emotional resonance, connection and shared experience, and emotional are considered on the strength of what the facts suggest to be a substantial evidential base. As AI becomes more pertinent in our lives, we must be conscious of reaching an equilibrium where the human part of how one communicates is kept while we benefit from what AI can afford. The research into artificial love shows the importance of ongoing conversation around the place of technology in our social lives and the inseparability between the reality of our online and offline lives in that ongoing conversation.

The Role of Body Image Factors in Swedish Adolescents' Sexting Behaviors.

The current study tested a model in which three body image factors were assumed to be associated with adolescents' sexting (sending nude or semi-nude pictures and/or video clips) to either romantic partners or strangers. We hypothesized that lower appearance esteem, more body surveillance, and more dysfunctional appearance beliefs would be associated with a higher likelihood of sexting. We also examined the effects of pubertal timing in the model, along with assessing the moderating effect of gender on the pathways to sexting. A questionnaire study was conducted with 1543 adolescents (girls = 791, 50.7%; boys = 772, 49.3%), ages between 13 and 16years. The results from structural equation modeling indicated that girls' and boys' dysfunctional appearance beliefs were most consistently associated with sexting with romantic partners and strangers. Body surveillance also predicted sexting with strangers, but only for boys. Contrary to our hypotheses, appearance esteem was not significantly associated with sexting. Early-maturing girls and boys were more likely to sext with either partner. Girls reporting earlier pubertal timing were more likely to sext with romantic partners via the mediation of appearance beliefs. The findings from this study provide novel evidence of the complex interplay between body image and adolescents' sexting, emphasizing that, in general, dysfunctional appearance beliefs seem to be more important for adolescents' sexting compared to body surveillance and appearance esteem.

Could Password Sharing Entitle You to Monitor Your Partner's Social Media Accounts?

Social media offers a plethora of strangers cum friends whose photo shopped images seem idealistic and more appealing than one's primary partner. Due to the physical absence and lack of non-verbal cues, online communications can quickly become aggressive and emotionally intimate. Emotional intimacy between online friends is considered a betrayal in a dyadic relationship. To protect mates from external relationship threats, romantic partners may request and/or coerce their significant other for social media account passwords. In a sample of 299 adults (women = 246) between18 and 72 years ( M = 21.12, SD = 5.39), we explored the participants’ attitudes toward password sharing, their password sharing behavior with the significant other, and finally seeking social media account passwords from their significant other. We also tested if sharing one's passwords (password sharing behavior) would mediate the relationship between the participant's password sharing attitude and the significant other's account monitoring. We found that favorable password sharing attitude may predict password sharing behavior and the significant other's SNS account monitoring. Password sharing behavior also partially mediated the relationship between password sharing attitude and the significant other's account monitoring. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Enchanted democracy: Religion and democratic thought in nineteenth‐century Latin America

AbstractThis article recovers an overlooked strand of nineteenth‐century Latin American political thought that I call, “enchanted democracy.” It is epitomized in the work of the Chilean radical democrat, Francisco Bilbao (1823–1865). Deployed in the generation after the Spanish American Wars of Independence, “enchanted democracy” was a postcolonial democratic theory that aimed to justify mass expansion of suffrage, direct democracy, and social equality. This political vision was inescapably theological. Bilbao relied upon scripture, the lives of saints, and sacraments to justify political inclusion, construct a theory of democratic solidarity, and to motivate affection and sacrificial love among citizens. By using theological concepts and popular religious expression to build a future politics, I argue that “enchanted democracy” broadens theoretical approaches to the relationship between religion and democracy. This article also signals the importance of Latin American political thought for contemporary democratic theory.