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Developmental and Dyadic Perspectives on Commitment in Adult Romantic Relationships

2011; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 22; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/0956797611410573

1467-9280

M. Minda Oriña, W. Andrew Collins, Jeffry A. Simpson, Jessica E. Salvatore, Katherine C. Haydon, John S. Kim,

Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

We tested hypotheses concerning the developmental roots of becoming the “weak-link” (less committed) partner in adult romantic relationships and the associations between partners’ absolute and relative levels of commitment and dyadic outcomes. We examined 78 target 20- to 21-year-olds who were involved in a romantic relationship and who had been studied since birth. As predicted, people who received lower-quality support from caregivers in toddlerhood or who were less able to resolve conflicts with a best friend in midadolescence were more likely to become the weak-link partner in a romantic relationship at age 20 to 21. Furthermore, lower commitment on the part of the weak-link partner coupled with greater discrepancy in commitment between partners predicted a greater likelihood that the couple would display hostility (rated by observers) during a videotaped conflict-resolution task when they were 20 to 21 years old. These findings are discussed from developmental and dyadic perspectives.