Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2022 Jun;122(6):1022-1055. doi: 10.1037/pspi0000312. Epub 2020 Dec 17.
In intimate relationships, greater social approach motivation is associated with a host of personal and relational benefits. Why is this the case? Although previous research suggests approach motivation primarily influences relational outcomes via increased exposure to positive relational events, in this research, based on approach-avoidance motivational theory, we revive the upward reactivity hypothesis, which suggests approach motivation upwardly enhances people's affective and relational experiences in response to positive social events. Specifically, we hypothesized that people with greater social approach motivation would react more positively to positively valenced interactions with their partner, and that this would occur even when accounting for their global levels of key outcomes. We tested these ideas across three studies. In all three studies, couples first reported their approach motivation toward the relationship, then engaged in a gratitude interaction. In Study 3, participants additionally engaged in a capitalization interaction, and provided nightly reports of positive relational events across the course of 14 days. We found robust support for the upward reactivity hypothesis: In lab-based interactions and in daily life, individuals with greater approach motivation reported enhanced outcomes in response to positive social events. We also found support for upward observability: When individuals were high in approach motivation, their partners observed them as experiencing greater positive emotion during the laboratory interactions. Moreover, we found evidence for upward crossover, as the upward reactivity experienced by people with greater approach motivation indirectly predicted enhanced partner outcomes. These results provide suggestive evidence that approach motivation can make already good relational moments extra sweet. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
在亲密关系中，更强的社交趋近动机与许多个人和关系方面的益处相关。为什么会这样呢？尽管先前的研究表明，趋近动机主要通过增加积极的关系事件的暴露来影响关系结果，但在这项研究中，我们根据趋近-回避动机理论，重新提出了上行反应性假说，该假说认为，趋近动机可以增强人们对积极社交事件的情感和关系体验。具体来说，我们假设，具有更强社交趋近动机的人会对与伴侣的积极互动做出更积极的反应，即使考虑到他们的全局关键结果水平也是如此。我们通过三项研究来检验这些想法。在所有三项研究中，情侣们首先报告了他们对关系的趋近动机，然后进行了感恩互动。在研究 3 中，参与者还进行了资本积累互动，并在 14 天的时间内每晚报告积极的关系事件。我们有力地支持了上行反应性假说：在实验室互动和日常生活中，具有更强趋近动机的个体在积极的社交事件中报告了增强的结果。我们还发现了上行可观察性的支持：当个体具有较强的趋近动机时，他们的伴侣在实验室互动中观察到他们体验到更大的积极情绪。此外，我们还发现了上行交叉的证据，因为具有较强趋近动机的人的上行反应性间接预测了伴侣结果的增强。这些结果提供了有说服力的证据，表明趋近动机可以使本来就很好的关系时刻更加甜蜜。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2022 APA，保留所有权利）。
