Our adventures make me feel secure: Novel activities boost relationship satisfaction through felt security
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Date
2020-07
Authors
Cortes, Kassandra
Britton, Emily
Holmes, John G.
Scholer, Abigail A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Past research has established the relational benefits of engaging in novel tasks with a romantic partner. However, little empirical evidence exists for the mechanisms responsible. The current research examined growth experiences—the proposed and tested mechanism in past work—as well as security experiences, a previously unexplored mechanism. Using a recall paradigm, Study 1 found that people reported high feelings of security (e.g., reliance, trust), in addition to growth (e.g., fun, excitement), when pursuing novel activities with a romantic partner. In Study 2, romantic couples engaged in a novel or control task. We assessed feelings of growth and security, and examined couples’ post-task relationship satisfaction. Results revealed that while growth feelings mediated the link between task condition and relationship satisfaction, consistent with past work, so too did feelings of security. When growth and security were included as simultaneous mediators in the model, feelings of security emerged as a stronger mediator.
Description
Keywords
close relationships, self-expansion, relationship satisfaction, growth, felt security