OPTIMISM AND ITS EFFECT ON ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS by AMY KRISTINE DICKE, B.A., M.A. A DISSERTATION IN PSYCHOLOGY Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved ^ /^^ Accepted December, 1997 §61 /A {: 7^^^ optimism and Its Effect on Romantic Relationships Amy K. Dicke Texas Tech University Copyright 1997, Amy K. Dicke i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Clyde Hendrick, my dissertation committee chair, for the endless hours he put into reading several drafts of this manuscript. I would also like to thank David and Kathy Dicke, Tracy Wintroath, Tara Pittman, and Dr. Sue Thomas for their assistance in data collection. Without their help, the acquisition of 169 couples would not have been possible. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT viii LIST OF TABLES x CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 Optimism and Its Complexities 4 Pessimism and Depression 5 Defensive Pessimism 10 Unrealistic Optimism 12 Optimism and Health 15 Social Desirablity of Optimism 17 Heritability of Optimism 18 Subjective Well-being 19 Measuring Optimism and Related Constructs 22 Context of Romantic Relationships 25 Date Selection 25 Jealousy 28 Past Experience 31 Attachment 33 Personality Traits 37 111 Similarity of Partners 39 Satisfied and Troubled Relationships 41 Relationship Satisfaction 41 Measuring Relationship Satisfaction.... 44 Relationship Conflict 45 Conflict, Relationships, and Gender.... 48 Love 51 Lee's Typology of Love 51 Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love.. 52 Optimism and Relationship Research 54 Why Optimism and Romantic Relationships?. 56 n. STUDY I: RATIONALE AND METHOD 58 Rationale 58 Method 63 Participants 63 Materials 64 Procedure 67 m. STUDY I: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 69 The Current Sample 69 Participant Characteristics 69 Descriptive Statistics 70 Selection of Optimist-Pessimist Couples 71 iv Hypotheses 1 to 3 77 Satisfaction 77 Perceived Future Length of Relationship 79 Conflict 79 Other Variables 86 Subjective Weil-Being 86 Miscellaneous Relationship Subscales 87 Attachment 90 Love Styles 91 Effects of Parents' Relationship 94 Hypotheses 4 and 5: Optimist- Pessimist Couples 96 Hypothesis 4 96 Hypothesis 5 97 Hypothesis 6: Individual Analyses 98 Other Results for Individuals 98 Love Styles 101 Discussion 102 Satisfaction 102 Perceived Future Length of Relationship 103 Conflict 104 V Other Variables 106 IV. STUDY II: RATIONALE AND METHOD 108 Rationale 108 Method 110 Participants 110 Materials 110 Procedure Ill IV. STUDY II: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 114 Results 114 Participant Characteristics 114 Research Question Results 116 Trichotomizing the Optimism Score 126 Discussion 136 VI. GENERAL DISCUSSION 139 Special Concerns and Future Directions 142 REFERENCES 146 APPENDICES A. THE LIFE ORIENTATION SCALE-REVISED... 161 B. THE RAHIM ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT INVENTORY 162 C. THE LOVE RELATIONSHIPS BIOGRAPHY.... 164 VI riM D. LOVE ATTITUDES SCALE 166 E. RELATIONSHIP ASSESSMENT SCALE 168 F. MEASUREMENT OF ATTACHMENT QUALITIES 171 G. SATISFACTION WITH LIFE SCALE 172 H. INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDY 1 173 I. BACKGROUND INVENTORY 174 J. MARRIAGE DEMOGRAPHICS 175 K. CONSENT FORM—STUDY 1 176 L. ORDERS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRES FOR STUDY 1 177 M. CENTER FOR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES DEPRESSION SCALE 179 N. DAILY FEELINGS SCALE 180 O. CONSENT FORM—STUDY H 181 P. INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDY H 182 Q. INTERPERSONAL ASSESSMENT SCALE 183 R. EFFECT SIZES FOR HYPOTHESIS 6 AND RELATED ANALYSES 184 Vll ABSTRACT Two studies examined the role of an optimistic or pessimistic outlook on life in romantic relationships. Study I proposed that two optimistic partners will have a more satisfying relationship than either an optimist and a pessimist, or two pessimists. In addition, it was hypothesized that the two optimists would predict that they will be together longer and be more successful at conflict resolution than would the other two partner combinations. It was also hypothesized that two pessimists would be the least successful at conflict resolution and that they would predict that they will be together for the least amount of time, as compared to two optimists or to an optimist and a pessimist. Also, an optimist and a pessimist will be more successful at conflict resolution when the optimist is a female and the pessimist is a male. The results generally found that optimist-optimist couples exhibited the highest satisfaction, and solved conflicts using integrating and obliging conflict strategies. The optimist-pessimist couples were less satisfied than the optimist-optimist couples, but more satisfied than the pessimist-pessimist couples. The pessimist- pessimist couples were thus the least satisfied. They solved conflicts by using dominating conflict tactics, results offering only partial viii support for the hypotheses. Optimists, as individuals, perceived that they would be together longer than pessimists. The second study attempted to determine whether optimists and pessimists prefer to be in romantic relationships with people sharing their same optimistic or pessimistic outlook on life, or if they would rather be with an optimist, since that quality is socially desirable. Results suggested that people tended to prefer the optimist, regardless of their own optimism level, lending support for one of the research questions. Pessimists did rate the pessimistic stimulus person more favorably than did optimists. People tended to prefer similar others as friends, lending support to the literature on friendship in social psychology, but optimists were preferred to pessimists in general as romantic partners. IX LIST OF TABLES 3.1 General Descriptive Statistics for Study 1 72 3.2 Descriptive Statistics for Conflict, Attachment, and Love Styles 73 3.3 Analyses Testing Optimism: Validation Check 76 3.4 Analyses Testing Hypotheses 1, 2, and 3: Satisfaction and Perceived Length of Relationship 78 3.5 Analyses Testing Conflict Styles 82 3.6 Analyses Testing Other Variables 83 3.7 Analyses Testing Attachment Styles 89 3.8 Analyses Testing Love Styles 92 3.9 Analyses Testing Effect of Parents' Marriage 95 5.1 Descriptive Statistics for Study II 115 5.2 Results from Multiple Regression: Desire for the Optimistic Stimulus Person as a Romantic Partner (Question 6, Appendix Q) 118 5.3 Results from Multiple Regression: Desire for the Pessimistic Stimulus Person as a Romantic Partner (Question 6, Appendix Q) 118 5.4 Results from Multiple Regression: Desire to Be Friends With the Optimistic Stimulus Person (Question 5, Appendix Q) 119 5.5 Results from Multiple Regression: Desire to Be Friends With the Pessimistic Stimulus Person (Question 5, Appendix Q) 119 5.6 Results from Multiple Regression: Likability of Optimistic Stimulus Person (Question 4, Appendix Q) 121 X 5.7 Results from Multiple Regression: Likability of Pessimistic Stimulus Person (Question 4, Appendix Q) 121 5.8 Results from Multiple Regression: Happiness of Optimistic Stimulus Person (Question 3, Appendix Q) 122 5.9 Results from Multiple Regression: Happiness of Pessimistic Stimulus Person (Question 3, Appendix Q) 122 5.10 Results from Multiple Regression: Warmth and Friendliness of Optimistic Stimulus Person (Question 2, Appendix Q) 124 5.11 Results from Multiple Regression: Warmth and Friendliness of Pessimistic Stimulus Person (Question 2, Appendix Q) 124 5.12 Results from Multiple Regression: Perceived Optimism of Optimistic Stimulus Person (Question 1, Appendix Q) 125 5.13 Results from Multiple Regression: Perceived Optimism of Pessimistic Stimulus Person (Question 1, Appendix Q) 125 5.14 Results from Analysis of Variance: Desire for the Stimulus Person as a Romantic Partner (Question 6, Appendix Q) (Means) 128 5.15 Results from Analysis of Variance: Desire for the Stimulus Person as a Romantic Partner (Question 6, Appendix Q) (F-Ratios) 128 5.16 Results from Analysis of Variance: Desire to Befriend Stimulus Person (Question 5, Appendix Q) (Means) 130 5.17 Results from Analysis of Variance: Desire to Befriend Stimulus Person (Question 5, Appendix Q) (F-Ratios) 130 XI 5.18 Results from Analysis of Variance: Likability of Stimulus Person (Question 4, Appendix Q) (Means) 132 5.19 Results from Analysis of Variance: Likability of Stimulus Person (Question 4, Appendix Q) (F-Ratios) 132 5.20 Results from Analysis of Variance: Happiness of Stimulus Person (Question 3, Appendix Q) (Means) 134 5.21 Results from Analysis of Variance: Happiness of Stimulus Person (Question 3, Appendix Q) (F-Ratios) 134 5.22 Results from Analysis of Variance: Warmth and Friendliness of Stimulus Person (Question 2, Appendix Q) (Means) 135 5.23 Results from Analysis of Variance: Warmth and Friendliness of Stimulus Person (Question 2, Appendix Q) (F-Ratios) 135 5.24 Results from Analysis of Variance: Perceived Optimism of Stimulus Person (Question 1, Appendix Q) (Means) 137 5.25 Results from Analysis of Variance: Perceived Optimism of Stimulus Person (Question 1, Appendix Q) (F-Ratios) 137 R. 1 Effect Sizes for Significant Results from Hypothesis 6 and Related Analyses 184 Xll CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Relationships affect people's lives in a number of ways. Society pressures people to pair off as they get older, and after growing up in such an environment, people learn to feel inadequate or rejected if they are not involved in a romantic relationship at any given time. A primary romantic relationship often dictates a large part of a person's life for many people. People may compromise many of their purely personal desires and everyday activities in order to keep a relationship intact. In addition, people leave jobs and careers because of a partner's relocation or request. Because romantic relationships are such an integral part of people's lives, research on relationships is of utmost importance. If a person is compromising a career in some way for a partner, it would be best that the relationship between the two people be healthy, successful, and long-lasting. It is important for people to learn how to stay together successfully- In addition, it is important to know when the dating partner is the right match for a person in order to maintain strong family structure and to provide a good environment to raise children in this society.