#749 Francesca Righetti: The Psychology of Close Relationships
RECORDED ON FEBRUARY 9th 2023.
Dr. Francesca Righetti is an Associate Professor at the Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology at the VU Amsterdam. Dr. Righetti’s research focuses on close relationships. More specifically she studies sacrifice, ambivalence, and how dual processes shape relationship dynamics (e.g., implicit partner evaluations, self-control, automatic processes). Besides obtaining several grants (e.g., the VENI, ORA, and VIDI grants from NWO), she has also won several awards such as the Caryl Rusbult Early Career Award from Relationship Researchers Interest Group (RRIG), the Early Career Award from the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP) and the Raising Star Award from the Association for Psychological Science (APS).
In this episode, we talk about close relationships. We first discuss sacrifice: what motivates it, when it is expected, when people regret it, and how they weigh its costs. We discuss when empathy is a burden, perceived partner responsiveness, and how people deal with conflict. We talk about the role that self-control plays in close relationships. We discuss interpersonal goal support, and promoting one another’s ideal selves. We talk about attachment security, anxious and avoidant attachment styles, and how security can be fostered. We discuss ambivalence in romantic relationships, and implicit partner evaluation. Finally, we talk about the factors that contribute to the maintenance and decline of relationship satisfaction.
Time Links:
Intro
Sacrifice in romantic relationships: what motivates it, and when it is expected
When sacrifice leads to frustration
When people regret their sacrifices
Weighing the costs of sacrifice
When empathy is a burden
Perceived partner responsiveness
Dealing with conflict
The role of self-control in close relationships
Interpersonal goal support, and promoting one another’s ideal selves
Attachment security, anxious and avoidant attachment styles, and how security can be fostered
Ambivalence in romantic relationships
Implicit partner evaluation
Which factors contribute to the maintenance and decline of relationship satisfaction?
Follow Dr. Righetti’s work!
Follow Dr. Righetti’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3y8BaVs
Website: https://bit.ly/3e3rlRT
Works on ResearchGate: https://bit.ly/3LUcVjH
Twitter handle: @righettifra