A Systematic Study of Ambivalence and Well-Being in Romantic Relationships

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Giulia Zoppolat - , Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) (Author)
  • Francesca Righetti - , Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) (Author)
  • Ruddy Faure - , Radboud University Nijmegen (Author)
  • Iris K. Schneider - , Chair of Social Psychology (Author)

Abstract

People in close relationships can, and often do, experience ambivalence (i.e., mixed feelings) toward their romantic partner. Although ambivalence is common and consequential, research on this phenomenon is fragmented. The present work examines how four different types of ambivalence (i.e., objective, subjective, implicit-explicit, and implicit ambivalence) relate to well-being. In four intensive studies (N = 1,134) and internal meta-analyses, ambivalence was related to lower personal and relational well-being, but this association was only statistically significant for explicit (i.e., objective and subjective) types of ambivalence, with subjective ambivalence showing the strongest association, particularly for relationship outcomes. This work is the first systematic study of ambivalence and well-being in relationships and highlights the importance of capturing mixed feelings in relationship research and how such focus can benefit research on attitudinal ambivalence and well-being more broadly.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)329-339
Number of pages11
JournalSocial Psychological and Personality Science
Volume15
Issue number3
Early online date29 Apr 2023
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Mendeley 65e9398e-55ad-3fc4-9dbf-d112650b597c
WOS 000978600300001
ORCID /0000-0003-0915-0809/work/145224199

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • ambivalence, attitudes, automatic processes, mixed emotions, romantic relationships, well-being, Mixed emotions, Ambivalence, Well-being, Romantic relationships, Attitudes, Automatic processes

Library keywords