Self-control and accommodation in close relationships: an interdependence analysis.
Accommodation refers to the willingness, when a partner has engaged in a potentially destructive behavior, to (a) inhibit impulses toward destructive responding and (b) instead respond constructively. A pilot study and 3 additional studies examined the hypothesis that self-control promotes individuals' ability to accommodate in response to a romantic partner's potentially destructive behavior. Dispositional self-control was positively associated with accommodative tendencies in all 4 investigations. In addition, Study 1 (a retrospective study) and Study 2 (a laboratory experiment) revealed that "in-the-moment" self-regulatory strength depletion decreased the likelihood that an individual would accommodate. Finally, Study 3 demonstrated that self-control exerted a significant effect on accommodation even after the authors included commitment to the relationship in the model. Implications for relationship functioning are discussed.
Finkel
E J
EJ
Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599, USA. finkel@email.unc.edu
Campbell
W K
WK
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003380:Courtship; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010555:Personality Inventory