Directive and Interpretive Functions of World Beliefs in Dyadic Interaction: Providing and Perceiving Social Support

Abstract

The current research examines the functions of world beliefs in the context of observed social support interactions between romantic partners and their implications for affective experience and psychological well-being. Both members of romantic couples (N = 235 couples) discussed personal problems while being recorded. When listening to their partner’s problems, participants who saw the world as Enticing (i.e., full of rewards and worth exploring) were more responsive to their partner’s bids for support. When discussing their problems, participants who saw the world as generally Good and Enticing perceived that their partner was more supportive, which predicted more positive mood at the end of the conversation and greater well-being a year later. These results provide novel evidence for behavioral and interpretive functions of world beliefs in the context of social support interactions and suggest that world beliefs may influence affective experience and well-being through their impact on support perceptions.

Keywords

world belief worldviews social support romantic relationships well-being

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Assad

K. K.

Donnellan

M. B.

Conger

R. D.

(2007). Optimism: An enduring resource for romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(2), 285–297.

Barbee

A. P.

Cunningham

M. R.

(1995). An experimental approach to social support communications: Interactive coping in close relationships. Annals of the International Communication Association, 18(1), 381–413.

Bolger

Zuckerman

Kessler

R. C.

(2000). Invisible support and adjustment to stress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(6), 953–961.

Bowlby

(1980). Attachment and loss: Vol. 3. Loss. Basic Books.

Braithwaite

Holt-Lunstad

(2017). Romantic relationships and mental health. Current Opinion in Psychology, 13, 120–125.

Cameron

J. J.

Robinson

K. J.

(2010). Don’t you know how much I need you? Consequences of miscommunication vary by self-esteem. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1(2), 136–142.

Chen

Miao

Tang

(2022). The relationship between social support and goal pursuit among Chinese college students: The mediating role of just-world beliefs. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1051884.

Clark

M. S.

Lemay

E. P.

Graham

S. M.

Pataki

S. P.

Finkel

E. J.

(2010). Ways of giving benefits in marriage: Norm use, relationship satisfaction, and attachment-related variability. Psychological Science, 21(7), 944–951.

Clifton

J. D.

(2020a). Happy in a crummy world: Implications of primal world beliefs for increasing wellbeing through positive psychology interventions. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(5), 691–695.

10.

Clifton

J. D.

(2020b). Testing if primal world beliefs reflect experiences—Or at least some experiences identified ad hoc. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1145.

11.

Clifton

J. D.

Baker

J. D.

Park

C. L.

Yaden

D. B.

Clifton

A. B.

Terni

Miller

Zeng

Giorgi

Schwartz

H. A.

Seligman

M. E. P.

(2019). Primal world beliefs. Psychological Assessment, 31(1), 82–99.

12.

Clifton

J. D.

Yaden

D. B.

(2021). Brief measures of the four highest-order primal world beliefs. Psychological Assessment, 33(12), 1267–1273.

13.

Collins

N. L.

Feeney

B. C.

(2000). A safe haven: An attachment theory perspective on support seeking and caregiving in intimate relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(6), 1053–1073. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.6.1053

14.

Collins

N. L.

Feeney

B. C.

(2004). Working models of attachment shape perceptions of social support: Evidence from experimental and observational studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(3), 363–383.

15.

Cutrona

C. E.

Russell

(1990). Type of social support and specific stress: Toward a theory of optimal matching. In Sarason

I. G.

Sarason

B. R.

Pierce

G. R.

(Eds.), Social support: An interactional view (pp. 319–366). Wiley.

16.

Diener

Seligman

M. E.

(2002). Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13(1), 81–84.

17.

Diener

Wirtz

Tov

Kim-Prieto

Choi

D.-W.

Oishi

Biswas-Diener

(2010). New well-being measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 97, 143–156.

18.

Don

B. P.

Mickelson

K. D.

Barbee

A. P.

(2013). Indirect support seeking and perceptions of spousal support: An examination of a reciprocal relationship. Personal Relationships, 20(4), 655–668.

19.

Epstein

(2003). Cognitive-experiential self-theory of personality. In Millon

Lerner

M. J.

(Eds.), Comprehensive handbook of psychology (Vol. 5, pp. 159–184). Wiley.

20.

Ermer

A. E.

Proulx

C. M.

(2020). Social support and well-being among older adult married couples: A dyadic perspective. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 37(4), 1073–1091.

21.

Erol

R. Y.

Orth

(2017). Self-esteem and the quality of romantic relationships. European Psychologist, 21, 274–283.

22.

Feather

N. T.

(1991). Human values, global self-esteem, and belief in a just world. Journal of Personality, 59(1), 83–107.

23.

Feeney

B. C.

Collins

N. L.

(2015). A new look at social support: A theoretical perspective on thriving through relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 19(2), 113–147.

24.

Forest

A. L.

Kille

D. R.

Wood

J. V.

Holmes

J. G.

(2014). Discount and disengage: How chronic negative expressivity undermines partner responsiveness to negative disclosures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(6), 1013–1032.

25.

Forest

A. L.

Walsh

R. M.

Krueger

K. L.

(2021). Facilitating and motivating support: How support-seekers can affect the support they receive in times of distress. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 15(6), e12600.

26.

Gustavson

Røysamb

Borren

Torvik

F. A.

Karevold

(2016). Life satisfaction in close relationships: Findings from a longitudinal study. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17, 1293–1311.

27.

Hornstein

E. A.

Eisenberger

N. I.

(2018). A social safety net: Developing a model of social-support figures as prepared safety stimuli. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(1), 25–31.

28.

Hornstein

E. A.

Fanselow

M. S.

Eisenberger

N. I.

(2016). A safe haven: Investigating social-support figures as prepared safety stimuli. Psychological Science, 27(8), 1051–1060.

29.

Janoff-Bulman

(1989a). Assumptive worlds and the stress of traumatic events: Applications of the schema construct. Social Cognition, 7(2), 113–136.

30.

Janoff-Bulman

(1989b). The benefits of illusions, the threat of disillusionment, and the limitations of inaccuracy. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 8(2), 158–175.

31.

Kaul

Lakey

(2003). Where is the support in perceived support? The role of generic relationship satisfaction and enacted support in perceived support’s relation to low distress. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 22(1), 59–78.

32.

Kazak

A. E.

(2018). Editorial: Journal article reporting standards. American Psychologist, 73(1), 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000263

33.

Koltko-Rivera

M. E.

(2004). The psychology of worldviews. Review of General Psychology, 8(1), 3–58.

34.

Lafontaine

M. F.

Brassard

Lussier

Valois

Shaver

P. R.

Johnson

S. M.

(2016). Selecting the best items for a short-form of the Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 32, 140–154. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000243

35.

Lakey

Cassady

P. B.

(1990). Cognitive processes in perceived social support. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(2), 337–343.

36.

Lakey

McCabe

K. M.

Fisicaro

S. A.

Drew

J. B.

(1996). Environmental and personal determinants of support perceptions: Three generalizability studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(6), 1270–1280.

37.

Lakey

Orehek

(2011). Relational regulation theory: A new approach to explain the link between perceived social support and mental health. Psychological Review, 118(3), 482–495.

38.

Lakey

Scoboria

(2005). The relative contribution of trait and social influences to the links among perceived social support, affect, and self-esteem. Journal of Personality, 73(2), 361–388.

39.

Lee

(1997). When the going gets tough, do the tough ask for help? Help seeking and power motivation in organizations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 72(3), 336–363.

40.

Lemay

E. P.

Jr. Clark

M. S.

Feeney

B. C.

(2007). Projection of responsiveness to needs and the construction of satisfying communal relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(5), 834–853.

41.

Lemay

E. P.

Cutri

J. N.

(2024). Implications of daily world beliefs for relationship satisfaction: The role of positive relationship illusions. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 20(3), 422–431.

42.

Lemay

E. P.

Cutri

J. N.

Davis

(2024). World beliefs predict the maintenance of satisfying communal relationships: The role of approach and avoidance goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Advance online publication.

43.

Lemay

E. P.

Neal

A. M.

(2014). Accurate and biased perceptions of responsive support predict well-being. Motivation and Emotion, 38(2), 270–286.

44.

Ludwig

V. U.

Crone

D. L.

Clifton

J. D.

Rebele

R. W.

Schor

J. A.

Platt

M. L.

(2023). Resilience of primal world beliefs to the initial shock of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Personality, 91(3), 838–855.

45.

MacKinnon

D. P.

Lockwood

C. M.

Williams

(2004). Confidence limits for the indirect effect: Distribution of the product and resampling methods. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39(1), 99–128. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr3901_4

46.

Marigold

D. C.

Cavallo

J. V.

Holmes

J. G.

Wood

J. V.

(2014). You can’t always give what you want: The challenge of providing social support to low self-esteem individuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(1), 56–80. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036554

47.

Marshall

E. M.

Karantzas

G. C.

Romano

Lee

Feeney

J. A.

Mullins

E. R.

McCabe

M. P.

Simpson

J. A.

(2023). Older adults’ support seeking from their adult children: The support-seeking strategy scale. Journal of Family Psychology, 37(6), 841–852.

48.

Martin

R. A.

Nicholas

A. K.

Olinger

Dance

K. A.

(1993). Humor, coping with stress, self-concept, and psychological well-being. Humor, 6, 89–104.

49.

McLeod

Berry

Hodgson

Wearden

(2020). Attachment and social support in romantic dyads: A systematic review. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 76(1), 59–101.

50.

Midlarsky

(1971). Aiding under stress: The effects of competence, dependency, visibility, and fatalism. Journal of Personality, 39(1), 132–149.

51.

Morelli

S. A.

Lee

I. A.

Arnn

M. E.

Zaki

(2015). Emotional and instrumental support provision interact to predict well-being. Emotion, 15(4), 484–493.

52.

Murray

S. L.

Pascuzzi

G. S.

(2024). Pursuing safety in social connection: A flexibly fluid perspective on risk regulation in relationships. Annual Review of Psychology, 75(1), 379–404.

53.

Nickerson

R. S.

(1998). Confirmation bias: a ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises. Review of General Psychology, 2(2), 175–220.

54.

Parkes

(1975). What becomes of redundant world models? A contribution to the study of adaptation to change. The British Journal of Medical Psychology, 48(2), 131–137.

55.

Parkes

K. R.

(1984). Locus of control, cognitive appraisal, and coping in stressful episodes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46(3), 655–668.

56.

Piaget

(1971). The construction of reality in the child. Basic Books.

57.

Pierce

G. R.

Sarason

I. G.

Sarason

B. R.

(1991). General and relationship-based perceptions of social support: Are two constructs better than one? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(6), 1028–1039.

58.

Pfund

G. N.

Brazeau

Allemand

Hill

P. L.

(2020). Associations between sense of purpose and romantic relationship quality in adulthood. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 37(5), 1563–1580.

59.

Poulin

M. J.

Silver

R. C.

(2019). When are assumptions shaken? A prospective, longitudinal investigation of negative life events and worldviews in a national sample. Journal of Research in Personality, 83, 103866.

60.

Preacher

K. J.

Selig

J. P.

(2012). Advantages of Monte Carlo confidence intervals for indirect effects. Communication Methods and Measures, 6, 77–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/19312458.2012.679848

61.

Rosenberg

(1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton University Press.

62.

Roux

Goldsmith

Bonezzi

(2015). On the psychology of scarcity: When reminders of resource scarcity promote selfish (and generous) behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 42(4), 615–631.

63.

Rusbult

C. E.

Martz

J. M.

Agnew

C. R.

(1998). The investment model scale: Measuring commitment level, satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. Personal Relationships, 5(4), 357–387. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.1998.tb00177.x

64.

Sacco

D. F.

Brown

Lustgraaf

C. J.

Young

S. G.

(2017). Women’s dangerous world beliefs predict more accurate discrimination of affiliative facial cues. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 11(4), 309–315.

65.

Sarason

I. G.

Pierce

G. R.

Sarason

B. R.

(1990). Social support and interactional processes: A triadic hypothesis. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7(4), 495–506.

66.

Shinn

Lehmann

Wong

N. W.

(1984). Social interaction and social support. Journal of Social Issues, 40(4), 55–76.

67.

Stahlmann

A. G.

Ruch

(2023). Primal world beliefs correlate strongly but differentially with character strengths. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 18(4), 481–491.

68.

Strumpfer

D. J.

(1978). Relationship between attitudes toward one’s names and self-esteem. Psychological Reports, 43(3), 699–702.

69.

Taylor

S. E.

(2006). Tend and befriend: Biobehavioral bases of affiliation under stress. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(6), 273–277.

70.

Vowels

L. M.

Vowels

M. J.

Carnelley

K. B.

Kumashiro

(2023). A machine learning approach to predicting perceived partner support from relational and individual variables. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 14(5), 526–538. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221114982

71.

Weber

Federico

C. M.

(2007). Interpersonal attachment and patterns of ideological belief. Political Psychology, 28(4), 389–416.

72.

Yavuz

H. M.

Colasante

Galarneau

Malti

(2024). Empathy, sympathy, and emotion regulation: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 150(1), 27–44.

73.

You

(2020). Modeling embitterment dynamics: The influence of negative life events and social support mediated by belief in a just world. Journal of Affective Disorders, 274, 269–275.

74.

Yzerbyt

Muller

Batailler

Judd

C. M.

(2018). New recommendations for testing indirect effects in mediational models: The need to report and test component paths. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(6), 929–943.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.16 MB