Romantic partners’perceptions of social network attributes with the passage of time and relationship transitions

Data from five waves of a longitudinal study of romantic couples were analyzed to examine how the partners’perceptions of social network attributes (i.e., network approval for the relationship, network overlap, liking for partner's network) change with the passage of time and relationship transitions. The results indicated that perceptions of network approval, especially from the male partner's friends, tended to increase over time for the participants whose relationship remained intact throughout the longitudinal study. Furthermore, the transitions to engagement and to marriage were also associated with an increase in network approval from the male's friends. Individuals who experienced a breakup during the study reported more network approval than disapproval for the breakup. Finally, the likelihood of a breakup was significantly lower the more approval women reported from their friends and the more women expressed liking for their partner's family at Time 1 (these same associations were nonsignificant for men). These findings provide support for various social network perspectives, including social reactance (Lewis, 1973).

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