Margaret S. Clark, Ph.D. - US grants

The proposed research is designed to investigate reactions to and strategic presentation of three moods in two types of social relationships. The moods are sadness, irritability and happiness. The types of relationships are close (communal) relationships and more formal (exchange) relationships. The research will take place in three phases. Phase I will include investigations of inferences people draw about sad, irritable and happy others and their behavioral reactions to such others' (in both communal and exchange relationships.) Phase II will include investigations of whether and when people strategically display each of these three moods to elicit desired reactions from others (again, in both communal and exchange relationships.) Finally, research in Phase III is aimed at whether and how reactions to and strategic presentations of sadness, irritability and happiness change over the development of communal and exchange relationships. Using investigations of sadness to illustrate the type of work to be conducted in each phase, Phase I includes tests of the hypotheses that: a) sadness will lead to perceptions of helplessness and dependence and, b) displaying sadness will be seen as appropriate and will elicit help in communal but not in exchange relationships. Phase II includes a test of the hypothesis that: c) people in communal but not in exchange relationships will strategically present themselves as sad in order to elicit help from others. Finally, Phase III includes a test of the hypothesis that: d) as people become more certain of their communal relationships, displays of sadness will increase in frequency whereas there will be few changes in people's tendency to display sadness over the course of exchange relationships. This research should have important applied implications. For example, displaying negative moods has been shown to have clear detrimental effects both on others' evaluations of the sad person (e.g. Coyne, 1976) and on the person's own mental state. However, people often display such moods. Discovering some of the social benefits of displaying these moods should suggest other behaviors which do not have the same negative side effects, and which might be effectively substituted for displays of negative moods.

Past research has established that being married is associated with superior mental and physical health relative to not being married. At the same time, little is currently known about what processes underlie these associations. Moreover, existing research has not established whether all marriages are beneficial to individuals' well-being. This longitudinal study of marriages addresses these issues. The study involves tracking 214 individuals in 107 marriages from just prior to each marriage through the end of the seventh year of their marriages. Its central focus is on patterns of giving and receiving benefits in marriage along with the antecedents and consequences of different patterns. Patterns comprising mutual responsiveness to one another's needs on a non-contingent basis are predicted to be associated with greater marital satisfaction and felt security as well as with superior mental and physical health. Adherence to other norms, equity, exchange, and self-interest, even if perceived to be fair, are predicted to be associated with poorer adjustment. Data show that most people initially endorse a norm of mutual responsiveness to needs as both ideal and as realistic for their marriage. However, many people are not able to maintain or follow such a norm over time, turning instead to exchange or equity norms which tend to be associated with poorer martial adjustment, a lower sense of security, and possibly poorer mental and physical health. The study will investigate possible antecedents of falling away from a norm of mutual responsiveness, including personality variables that people bring with them to marriages, outside stressors (e.g., job loss, birth of a first child), and poor adherence to the norm by one's spouse. This research will contribute to a base of scientific knowledge on close interpersonal relationships, and will lead to greater understanding of why some marriages succeed and others do not.