Accommodative Behavior in Close Relationships: Exploring Transformation of Motivation

Abstract

The literature on behavior during dissatisfying incidents consistently demonstrates that one key to effective interaction involves the willingness to accommodate, or the tendency-when an interaction partner engages in a potentially destructive act-to inhibit impulses to respond in kind, instead reacting in a constructive manner. It has been argued that the cognitive underpinnings of accommodation involve transformation of motivation, or the tendency to pause and "take account of broader considerations" such as the long-term consequences of one′s actions for a relationship. Two experiments provided evidence relevant to this key assumption. In Experiment 1 subjects described two incidents when their romantic partners behaved badly, reporting on both the responses they considered enacting and the responses they actually enacted. Consistent with predictions, the responses subjects considered enacting were significantly more destructive than the responses they actually enacted. Experiment 2 examined cognitive processes using a manipulation of reaction time-subjects were given either limited or plentiful time to indicate how they would react to interpersonal scenarios in which interaction partners enacted either constructive or destructive behaviors. As predicted, subjects were more likely to respond destructively to another′s destructive act when given limited reaction time than when given plentiful reaction time.