Woods, William Coleman
(2019)
The Role of Interpersonal Style in Relational Regulation.
Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Relational Regulation Theory (RRT) and Interpersonal Theory describe mechanisms linking social interactions to affect and perceptions of others. RRT describes ordinary, everyday social interactions involving interesting conversation or shared enjoyable activities as integral to affect regulation. Affect regulation elicits feelings of being supported by the interaction partner (i.e., perceived social support) with, with resulting downstream mental health benefits in both everyday life and when under stress. Interpersonal Theory describes social interactions as exchanges of warm (or cold) and dominant (or submissive) behaviors (i.e., interpersonal styles), with favorable affect elicited by interaction partners that engage in behaviors that fulfill interpersonal needs in each other. One elaboration of Interpersonal Theory hypothesizes that when under stress, interpersonal style will augment the effects of receiving support on the perceived supportiveness of the provider. I explored the extent to which interpersonal style incremented the prediction of contemporaneous affect and perceived social support engagement by enjoyed conversation and shared activities. Across three studies (n = 396; n = 288; n = 206), in vivo, in situ reported perception of an interaction partner as warm was linked to better affect and feeling supported. Perceived warmth also predicted better affect and being supported in times of stress; receiving social support was associated with contemporaneous negative affect but greater perceived support. Enjoyment of conversation and shared activity and warmth both predicted better affect and feelings of being supported independently; there were no interaction effects. Yet, the proportion of variance explained increased dramatically when both predictors were entered together, supporting the integration of RRT with Interpersonal Theory.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
26 June 2019 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
8 April 2019 |
| Approval Date: |
26 June 2019 |
| Submission Date: |
10 April 2019 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
77 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Psychology |
| Degree: |
MS - Master of Science |
| Thesis Type: |
Master's Thesis |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Relational Regulation Theory; Interpersonal Theory; Affect; Perceived social support |
| Date Deposited: |
26 Jun 2019 20:07 |
| Last Modified: |
26 Jun 2019 20:07 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/36450 |
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