SAGE Journal Articles

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In text Find Out more  boxes provide a brief, easy-to-read synopsis of a recently published SAGE Journal Article studies and research. For further research and exploration, each journal article is reprinted in full, below.

 

Research 8.1

Zhang, F. & Parmley, M. (2011). What your best friend sees that I don’t see: Comparing female close friends and casual acquaintances on the perception of emotional facial expressions of varying intensities. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 28-39.

Abstract: It is often assumed that intimacy and familiarity will lead to better and more effective emotional communication between two individuals. However, research has failed to unequivocally support this claim. The present study proposes that close dyads exhibit superiority in the decoding of subdued facial cues than in the decoding of highly intense expressions. A total of 43 close friend dyads and 49 casual acquaintance dyads (all women) were compared on their recognition of their partner’s and a stranger’s subdued facial expressions. Dyadic analyses indicate that close friends were more accurate and also improved more rapidly than casual acquaintances in decoding one other’s subdued expressions of sadness, anger, and happiness, especially the two negative emotions, but not in detecting the stranger’s subdued expressions. The results strongly suggest that intimacy fosters more accurate decoding of subdued facial expressions.

Research 8.2

Debrot, A., Shoebi, D, Perrez, M. & Horn, A.B. (2013). Touch as an interpersonal emotion regulation process in couples’ daily lives: The mediating role of psychological intimacy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39, 1373-1385.

Abstract: Interpersonal touch seems to promote physical health through its effects on stress-sensitive parameters. However, less is known about the psychological effects of touch. The present study investigates associations between touch and romantic partners’ affective state in daily life. We hypothesized that this association is established by promoting the recipient’s experience of intimacy. Both partners of 102 dating couples completed an electronic diary 4 times a day during 1 week. Multilevel analyses revealed that touch was associated with enhanced affect in the partner. This association was mediated by the partner’s psychological intimacy. Touch was also associated with intimacy and positive affect in the actor. Finally, participants who were touched more often during the diary study week reported better psychological well-being 6 months later. This study provides evidence that intimate partners benefit from touch on a psychological level, conveying a sense of strengthened bonds between them that enhances affect and well-being.

Research 8.3

Fletcher, G.J.O., Kerr, P.S.G., Norman, P.L. & Valentine, K.A. (2014). Predicting romantic interest and decisions in the very early stages of mate selection: Standards, accuracy, and sex differences. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40, 540-550.

Abstract: In the current study, opposite-sex strangers had 10-min conversations with a possible further date in mind. Based on judgments from partners and observers, three main findings were produced. First, judgments of attractiveness/vitality perceptions (compared with warmth/trustworthiness and status/resources) were the most accurate and were predominant in influencing romantic interest and decisions about further contact. Second, women were more cautious and choosy than men—women underestimated their partner’s romantic interest, whereas men exaggerated it, and women were less likely to want further contact. Third, a mediational model found that women (compared with men) were less likely to want further contact because they perceived their partners as possessing less attractiveness/vitality and as falling shorter of their minimum standards of attractiveness/vitality, thus generating lower romantic interest. These novel results are discussed in terms of the mixed findings from prior research, evolutionary psychology, and the functionality of lay psychology in early mate selection contexts.