James K. McNulty
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View article: AVPR1A RS3 and relationship maintenance processes in newlywed couples
AVPR1A RS3 and relationship maintenance processes in newlywed couples Open
Introduction Maintaining relationship quality during the first few years can be difficult for many couples. We examined whether variability in the repeat-length polymorphism RS3 on the vasopressin receptor gene AVPR1A is associated with re…
View article: Automatic partner attitudes: Sources, implications, and future directions
Automatic partner attitudes: Sources, implications, and future directions Open
Satisfying romantic relationships offer numerous social and health benefits, making it critical to understand the trajectory of relationship satisfaction. In recent years, research has begun to examine the role of automatic processes in re…
View article: Are changes in marital satisfaction sustained and steady, or sporadic and dramatic?
Are changes in marital satisfaction sustained and steady, or sporadic and dramatic? Open
Although prominent theories of intimate relationships, and couples themselves, often conceive of relationships as fluctuating widely in their degree of closeness, longitudinal studies generally describe partners' satisfaction as stable and…
View article: Leveraging impression management motives to increase the use of face masks
Leveraging impression management motives to increase the use of face masks Open
Three pilot studies (Ntotal = 832) revealed that people held more positive attitudes toward targets wearing protective face masks. Therefore, we examined whether knowledge of this self-presentational benefit would increas…
View article: Pursuing safety in social connection regulates the risk-regulation, social-safety, and behavioral-immune systems.
Pursuing safety in social connection regulates the risk-regulation, social-safety, and behavioral-immune systems. Open
A new goal-systems model is proposed to help explain when individuals will protect themselves against the risks inherent to social connection. This model assumes that people satisfy the goal to feel included in safe social connectio…
View article: A moth to a flame? Fulfilling connectedness needs through romantic relationships protects conspiracy theorists against COVID-19 misinformation
A moth to a flame? Fulfilling connectedness needs through romantic relationships protects conspiracy theorists against COVID-19 misinformation Open
Conspiracy theorists’ unpopular opinions likely make them more apprehensive about interactions with others, frustrating their need to belong. Therefore, they may be susceptible to believing misinformation because evidence that others share…
View article: Evidence of a Bidirectional Association Between Daily Sexual and Relationship Satisfaction That Is Moderated by Daily Stress
Evidence of a Bidirectional Association Between Daily Sexual and Relationship Satisfaction That Is Moderated by Daily Stress Open
View article: Factors that contribute to the maintenance or decline of relationship satisfaction
Factors that contribute to the maintenance or decline of relationship satisfaction Open
View article: Trust as a daily defense against collective disease threats
Trust as a daily defense against collective disease threats Open
Although the isolated threat of disease often motivates people to avoid others, people need the help and cooperation of others to protect themselves against pandemic disease threats. Therefore, the fear of contracting a highly contagious v…
View article: Neural mechanisms of intimate partner aggression
Neural mechanisms of intimate partner aggression Open
View article: Neural Mechanisms of Intimate Partner Aggression
Neural Mechanisms of Intimate Partner Aggression Open
People sometimes hurt those they profess to love; yet our understanding of intimate partner aggression (IPA) and its causes remains incomplete. We examined brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in an ethnically …
View article: Implicit Ambivalence: A Driving Force to Improve Relationship Problems
Implicit Ambivalence: A Driving Force to Improve Relationship Problems Open
Implicit ambivalence involves holding strong positive and negative implicit evaluations toward the same object. This state is common in close relationships because even the most satisfying partnerships involve in conflicts and other frustr…
View article: But What’s Your Partner Up to? Associations Between Relationship Quality and Pornography Use Depend on Contextual Patterns of Use Within the Couple
But What’s Your Partner Up to? Associations Between Relationship Quality and Pornography Use Depend on Contextual Patterns of Use Within the Couple Open
It is commonly assumed that exposure to pornography harms relationships because pornography changes the way that individuals think, feel, and behave in problematic ways. In the current research, we contribute to a small but growing body of…
View article: How both partners’ individual differences, stress, and behavior predict change in relationship satisfaction: Extending the VSA model
How both partners’ individual differences, stress, and behavior predict change in relationship satisfaction: Extending the VSA model Open
Significance Understanding the factors that explain declines in marital satisfaction is one of the most pressing challenges for relationship science. Yet, several lines of recent research relying on singular theoretical models have questio…
View article: Perceptions of Infectability to Disease Moderate the Association between Daily Concerns about Contracting COVID-19 and Satisfaction with Sex
Perceptions of Infectability to Disease Moderate the Association between Daily Concerns about Contracting COVID-19 and Satisfaction with Sex Open
View article: Looking for Safety in All the Right Places: When Threatening Political Reality Strengthens Family Relationship Bonds
Looking for Safety in All the Right Places: When Threatening Political Reality Strengthens Family Relationship Bonds Open
Elections and pandemics highlight how much one’s safety depends on fellow community members, a realization that is especially threatening when this collective perceives political realities inconsistent with one’s own. Two longitudinal stud…
View article: Automatic and controlled antecedents of suicidal ideation and action: A dual-process conceptualization of suicidality.
Automatic and controlled antecedents of suicidal ideation and action: A dual-process conceptualization of suicidality. Open
Dual-process models of cognition distinguish relatively automatic from relatively controlled processes in terms of their interactive impact on perception, judgment, and behavior. Such models have advanced explanation and prediction in a va…
View article: But What’s Your Partner up to? Associations between Relationship Quality and Pornography Use Depend on Contextual Patterns of Use within the Couple
But What’s Your Partner up to? Associations between Relationship Quality and Pornography Use Depend on Contextual Patterns of Use within the Couple Open
It is commonly assumed that pornography use harms relationships. In the current research, we contribute to a small but growing body of work that challenges this assumption by examining an alternative explanatory mechanism for the associati…
View article: CD38 is associated with bonding-relevant cognitions and relationship satisfaction over the first 3 years of marriage
CD38 is associated with bonding-relevant cognitions and relationship satisfaction over the first 3 years of marriage Open
View article: The Case for Studying Implicit Social Cognition in Close Relationships
The Case for Studying Implicit Social Cognition in Close Relationships Open
This review offers close relationships as a fruitful avenue to address long-lasting questions and current controversies in implicit social cognition research. Close relationships provide a unique opportunity to study strong attitudes that …
View article: The Implications of Sexual Narcissism for Sexual and Marital Satisfaction
The Implications of Sexual Narcissism for Sexual and Marital Satisfaction Open
There is theoretical reason to believe narcissism is associated with a number of sexual behaviors and outcomes that affect both sexual and relationship satisfaction. Nevertheless, research on the association between personality and behavio…
View article: Sexual Narcissism and Infidelity in Early Marriage
Sexual Narcissism and Infidelity in Early Marriage Open
There is theoretical reason to believe that narcissism is associated with infidelity. Yet, studies that have examined this association have yielded inconsistent results. Given that these inconsistencies may have emerged because prior studi…
View article: Do people realize how their partners make them feel? Relationship enhancement motives and stress determine the link between implicitly assessed partner attitudes and relationship satisfaction.
Do people realize how their partners make them feel? Relationship enhancement motives and stress determine the link between implicitly assessed partner attitudes and relationship satisfaction. Open
Do people realize the evaluative feelings that are spontaneously activated by their partner? If so, do they use those evaluations when judging their romantic relationships? To answer these questions, we investigated the association between…
View article: Automatic partner attitudes and daily experiences of mood and relationship satisfaction.
Automatic partner attitudes and daily experiences of mood and relationship satisfaction. Open
Automatic partner attitudes can be conceptualized as associations stored in memory between a partner and one's evaluation of that partner that are spontaneously activated upon thoughts of or encounters with the partner. Although more negat…
View article: The risk-benefit ratio of studying psychiatric symptoms via daily diary methods
The risk-benefit ratio of studying psychiatric symptoms via daily diary methods Open
Ethics committee members and researchers have deliberated about the risk-benefit ratio of researching sensitive issues such as psychiatric symptoms. Although research has suggested that inquiring about psychiatric symptoms in research gene…
View article: The Relationship Problem Solving (RePS) Model: How Partners Influence One Another to Resolve Relationship Problems
The Relationship Problem Solving (RePS) Model: How Partners Influence One Another to Resolve Relationship Problems Open
In this article, we synthesize existing literatures across numerous domains to introduce a novel model—the Relationship Problem Solving (RePS) model—for understanding the process through which romantic partners influence one another to res…
View article: Proximal Correlates of Suicidal Ideation and Behaviors: A Test of the Interpersonal‐Psychological Theory of Suicide
Proximal Correlates of Suicidal Ideation and Behaviors: A Test of the Interpersonal‐Psychological Theory of Suicide Open
Objective The interpersonal‐psychological theory of suicide hypothesizes proximal causes of suicidal ideation and behaviors; however, past studies have generally tested distal relations. The present study tested the proximal nature of the …
View article: Implicit interpersonal evaluations as a risk factor for suicidality: Automatic spousal attitudes predict changes in the probability of suicidal thoughts.
Implicit interpersonal evaluations as a risk factor for suicidality: Automatic spousal attitudes predict changes in the probability of suicidal thoughts. Open
Thwarted social connection is a critical risk factor for suicidality, and several theoretical perspectives highlight the importance of interpersonal affect to social connection. Given that marriage is an increasingly important source of so…
View article: No Longer in a Dry Spell: The Developing Understanding of How Sex Influences Romantic Relationships
No Longer in a Dry Spell: The Developing Understanding of How Sex Influences Romantic Relationships Open
Sex is a defining feature of romantic relationships, yet only recently has research into the implications of sexual processes for such relationships proliferated. We review this work to illustrate how considering the way in which sexual pr…
View article: Behavioral immune system activity predicts downregulation of chronic basal inflammation
Behavioral immune system activity predicts downregulation of chronic basal inflammation Open
Here, we present a mechanistically grounded theory detailing a novel function of the behavioral immune system (BIS), the psychological system that prompts pathogen avoidance behaviors. We propose that BIS activity allows the body to downre…