CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Aug. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. psychology researchers have published a new study that explores how people manage romantic relationships.
University of Illinois Professor R. Chris Fraley and graduate student Amanda Vicary looked at the choices people make in their dating relationships, focusing on how each partner's outlook influences his or her choices and satisfaction with the romance.
The online study took participants through a series of scenarios about a relationship with a fictional partner. Each scenario ended with two options, from which the participant chose his or her response.
"The interesting thing is that all the participants were reacting to the same person, the same scenario," said Vicary. "And yet the pattern of their responses was quite different."
The researchers found a study participant’s attachment style -- secure or insecure, anxious or intimacy-avoidant -- was a good predictor of the pattern of his or her choices.
"People who are highly insecure are more likely to interpret their partners’ actions in a negative way and then choose to respond in kind," Vicary said. The most secure individuals more often chose the positive, relationship-enhancing options.
The study and its findings are detailed in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
