Mixed and Conflicted: The Role of Ambivalence in Romantic Relationships in Light of Attractive Alternatives

Giulia Zoppolat*, Ruddy Faure, María Alonso-Ferres, Francesca Righetti

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

People in romantic relationships tend to have positive feelings toward their partner and want their relationship to last. However, maintaining a romantic relationship over time is challenging, and people can often experience mixed and conflicting feelings (i.e., ambivalence) toward their significant other. While research has identified the serious consequences that ambivalence can have for personal and relational well-being, very little is known about the factors that can lead people to experience ambivalence in relationships. The present work examines how extradyadic desire (i.e., desire for someone other than the partner), a common difficulty people face in the context of monogamy, is a situation in which people feel more ambivalent toward their partner. In three studies (N = 1,178) using experimental, daily diary, and longitudinal approaches, we find that feelings of desire for an attractive alternative increase ambivalence toward the current partner, above and beyond how much people actually value their partner, and that this has short- and long-term negative consequences for personal and relational well-being. Furthermore, while most people could identify an attractive alternative in their life, desire for the alternative— rather than just their presence—seems to play a stronger role in increasing ambivalence. This work highlights the emotional processes through which attractive alternatives pose a threat to romantic relationships and the role that ambivalence plays in daily life and over time.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)81-99
Number of pages19
JournalEmotion
Volume22
Issue number1
Early online date6 Jan 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by a Vidi grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) allocated to Francesca Righetti (VI.Vidi.195.010) and by a joint Open Research Area (ORA) grant to Francesca Righetti and W. Hofmann (NWO Grant 464-15-093 and German Research Foundation Grant HO 4175/6-1, respectively). Material and syntax for all studies can be found on the project?s OSF page.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022. American Psychological Association

Keywords

  • Ambivalence
  • Attractive alternatives
  • Close relationships
  • Desire
  • Repeated measure design

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