Frank Fincham
Florida State University, Family Institute, Faculty Member
Research Interests: Marketing, Religion, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Mindfulness, and 15 moreSelf Regulation, Self Control, Adolescent, Medicine, Religiosity, Humans, Substance Use, Alcohol, Female, Alcohol Drinking, Male, Religion and psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Longitudinal Studies, and Adult
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Research Interests: Psychology, Psychological Assessment, Developmental Psychology, Decision Making, Love, and 15 moreMedicine, Distress, Humans, Business and Management, Female, Ambiguity, Confirmatory factor analysis, Male, Romance, Young Adult, Interpersonal Relations, Psychological Tests, Romantic Relationship, Discriminant Validity, and Factor structure
Research on infidelity-related distress has focused on victims with little attention to perpetrators. Two studies therefore explore the psychological functioning of individuals who have engaged in dating infidelity. Study 1 showed that,... more
Research on infidelity-related distress has focused on victims with little attention to perpetrators. Two studies therefore explore the psychological functioning of individuals who have engaged in dating infidelity. Study 1 showed that, compared to faithful partners, individuals who had engaged in infidelity showed more psychological distress. Study 2 investigated the interrelationships among infidelity, psychological distress, and relationship satisfaction over time. Results suggested that initial levels of psychological distress predicted later infidelity but infidelity did not predict subsequent psychological distress. Findings are interpreted in light of the broader infidelity literature, potential mechanisms are suggested, and avenues for future research are recommended.
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Three studies document the effect of prayer on satisfaction with sacrifice in close relationships. Study 1 ( n = 771) demonstrated that prayer for partner predicted later satisfaction with sacrifice. In Study 2 couples discussed a... more
Three studies document the effect of prayer on satisfaction with sacrifice in close relationships. Study 1 ( n = 771) demonstrated that prayer for partner predicted later satisfaction with sacrifice. In Study 2 couples discussed a disagreement and then prayed or engaged in a control activity. Praying increased satisfaction with sacrifice, couple identity and emergent goals, both of which mediated the relationship between prayer for partner and sacrifice. Study 3 ( n = 37) showed that objective observers rated those who were randomly assigned to pray for a partner over a four-week period as being more satisfied with sacrifice than those who daily engaged in positive thoughts about their partner.
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Relationship quality is studied in a variety of disciplines, yet widely accepted practices promulgate a lack of conceptual clarity. We build on a conceptually simple and theoretically advantageous view of relationship quality and suggest... more
Relationship quality is studied in a variety of disciplines, yet widely accepted practices promulgate a lack of conceptual clarity. We build on a conceptually simple and theoretically advantageous view of relationship quality and suggest a shift to conceptualizing it as two distinct yet related dimensions—positive and negative evaluations of relationships. We introduce item response theory as a powerful tool for measure development, demonstrating how relationship quality can be optimally pursued in the context of modern test theory, thus leading to better theory development. Recognizing the limitations of self‐reported relationship quality, we extend this two‐dimensional conceptualization further by drawing on developments in the derivation of implicit measures. After briefly introducing such measures, we illustrate their application to assessment of relationship quality.
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Marital conflict has deleterious effects on mental, physical, and family health, and three decades of research have yielded a detailed picture of the behaviors that differentiate distressed from nondistressed couples. Review of this work... more
Marital conflict has deleterious effects on mental, physical, and family health, and three decades of research have yielded a detailed picture of the behaviors that differentiate distressed from nondistressed couples. Review of this work shows that the singular emphasis on conflict in generating marital outcomes has yielded an incomplete picture of its role in marriage. Recently, researchers have tried to paint a more textured picture of marital conflict by studying spouses' backgrounds and characteristics, investigating conflict in the contexts of support giving and affectional expression, and considering the ecological niche of couples in their broader environment.
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Research Interests: Domestic Violence, Medicine, Interpersonal Relationship, Intimate Partner Violence, Factor analysis, and 15 moreHumans, Business and Management, Correlation, Aggression, Intervention, Female, Confirmatory factor analysis, Male, Attitude, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Interpersonal Relations, Cross Validation, Adult, Factor structure, and Conflict Psychology
The current study examined whether young adults who start their exclusive romantic relationship via Friends with Benefits (FWB) relationships differed in relationship functioning from those who did not. After controlling for other salient... more
The current study examined whether young adults who start their exclusive romantic relationship via Friends with Benefits (FWB) relationships differed in relationship functioning from those who did not. After controlling for other salient predictors of relationship functioning (e.g., alcohol use, attachment style), young adults who were in FWB relationships prior to becoming exclusive reported lower relationship satisfaction when compared to young adults who did not. There were no significant associations between FWB status and communication quality or ambiguity in commitment levels. FWB status was not associated with relationship termination over the course of 4 months. Collectively, starting exclusive romantic relationships via FWB relationships had little apparent impact on later relationship functioning.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Computer Science, Intergroup Conflict (Psychology), Medicine, Family Psychology, and 15 moreGender Identity, Marital Satisfaction, Marriage, Humans, Close relationships, Female, Male, Attribution, Marital Therapy, Adult, Bf, Causal Effect, Personal Satisfaction, Internal- External Locus of Control, and Conflict Psychology
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Although positive and negative attitudes toward a transgressor are related to increased and decreased forgiveness, respectively, prior research has failed to investigate forgiveness among those who feel both positively and negatively... more
Although positive and negative attitudes toward a transgressor are related to increased and decreased forgiveness, respectively, prior research has failed to investigate forgiveness among those who feel both positively and negatively toward a transgressor. Therefore, the authors examined such ambivalence and its relationship to forgiveness. It was hypothesized that spouses with ambivalent attitudes toward their partner will be less forgiving of a partner transgression because such an event is likely to prime the negative component of their ambivalence. Because ruminating about a transgression also has the potential to prime the negative component of one's ambivalence, an interaction between rumination and ambivalence was predicted. Data from 87 married couples showed that greater attitudinal ambivalence toward the partner was associated with decreased forgiveness only when husbands and wives thought about the transgression frequently; ambivalence was not related to forgiveness i...
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Although the interchange between clinical and social psychological research has been fruitful in the study of cognition in marriage, it has recently waned. This article therefore illustrates the value of continued interplay between... more
Although the interchange between clinical and social psychological research has been fruitful in the study of cognition in marriage, it has recently waned. This article therefore illustrates the value of continued interplay between developments in the social cognition and marital literatures, focusing on the role of context in understanding marriage. Several studies show how construct accessibility, including the construct of marital quality, provides a context that influences judgments of partner behavior, the stability of marital quality, and observed marital behavior. The effects of context on reported marital quality are also examined. Finally, an expanded interplay between social cognition and marital research is illustrated using as examples self-evaluation maintenance processes and goals analysis. It is concluded that the social cognitive perspective has the potential to provide a different understanding of marital cognition in the new millenium.
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Research Interests: Marketing, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and 15 moreLove, Adolescent, Medicine, Intimate Partner Violence, Humans, Aggression, Female, Male, Romance, Young Adult, Interpersonal Relations, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Romantic Relationship, Interaction effect, and Commitment (Interpersonal Relationships)
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Research Interests: Marketing, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Family, Adolescent, and 15 moreMedicine, Forgiveness, Humans, Female, Male, Family Environment, Attitude, Family Relations, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Adult, Cross Section, PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION, Bf, Cross Sectional Studies, and Self persuasion
In Western culture, the vast majority of people marry or cohabit, and expectations of couple relationships are high. Marriage is portrayed as providing lifelong companionship, romance, support, sexual fulfilment and commitment. But a high... more
In Western culture, the vast majority of people marry or cohabit, and expectations of couple relationships are high. Marriage is portrayed as providing lifelong companionship, romance, support, sexual fulfilment and commitment. But a high proportion of couples experience an erosion of these positive qualities over time and, for some, relationship satisfaction erodes to the point where the relationship is terminated. For others, however, the barriers to separation, or the perceived absence of alternatives, may result in remaining married despite being unhappy with the relationship. It is not surprising therefore that some 40 % of the problems for which people seek professional help in the USA concern their spouse/marriage, a proportion that is twice the size of any other problem area (Veroff et al., 1981). And when intimate relationships like marriage go wrong, the costs can be high-- marital distress, separation, and divorce are associated with just about any physical or mental heal...
McCullough, Rachal, et al.’s (1998) social-psychological framework of forgiveness informed a longitudinal study that examined the extent to which marital forgiveness is determined by social-cognitive (the offended spouse’s rumination and... more
McCullough, Rachal, et al.’s (1998) social-psychological framework of forgiveness informed a longitudinal study that examined the extent to which marital forgiveness is determined by social-cognitive (the offended spouse’s rumination and emotional empathy) and relationship variables (the quality of the relationship in which the offense took place). In the study, 119 husbands and 124 wives from long- and medium-term marriages in north Italy provided data at two time points separated by a 6-month interval. Structural equation models showed that rumination and empathy independently predicted concurrent marital forgiveness. Forgiveness in turn predicted concurrent marital quality. Finally, reciprocal directions of effect emerged between forgiveness and marital quality over time. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for promoting forgiveness, and future research directions are outlined.
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Although previous research shows that relationship closeness plays a central role in an individual’s willingness to forgive an offender, it is based exclusively on data from Western, individualistic cultures. In the current study, the... more
Although previous research shows that relationship closeness plays a central role in an individual’s willingness to forgive an offender, it is based exclusively on data from Western, individualistic cultures. In the current study, the authors examined the association between relationship closeness and forgiveness across six countries, including both traditionally individualistic—Italy, the Netherlands, the United States—and collectivistic cultures—Japan, China (and one country, Turkey, with both individualistic and collectivistic features). Results demonstrated that, cross-culturally, there was a robust positive association between closeness toward the offender and level of forgiveness, both for trait-forgiveness and offense-specific forgiveness. However, this association was weaker in the collectivistic countries, which may suggest that strong norms in these countries to maintain social harmony may partly weaken the role of closeness in forgiveness. Overall, the present findings ar...
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How do relationship maintenance behaviors affect individual well-being? Given that people who invest time and effort toward achieving important goals see their outcomes as more reflective of their skills and abilities than do people who... more
How do relationship maintenance behaviors affect individual well-being? Given that people who invest time and effort toward achieving important goals see their outcomes as more reflective of their skills and abilities than do people who invest less time and effort, engaging in relationship maintenance behaviors may lead people to experience increased individual well-being when those behaviors appear to be successful but decreased well-being when they appear to be unsuccessful. A diary study of romantic relationships, a diary study of friendships, and a longitudinal study of newlyweds provided support for this prediction. In all three studies, relationship maintenance behaviors were negatively associated with depressive mood when followed by relatively high relationship quality, but positively associated with depressive mood when followed by relatively low relationship quality. Accordingly, relationship maintenance processes are not inherently beneficial or harmful; their intraperson...
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The objective of the current studies was to test whether praying for a relationship partner would increase willingness to forgive that partner. In Study 1 ( N = 52), participants assigned to pray for their romantic partner reported... more
The objective of the current studies was to test whether praying for a relationship partner would increase willingness to forgive that partner. In Study 1 ( N = 52), participants assigned to pray for their romantic partner reported greater willingness to forgive that partner than those who described their partner to an imagined parent. In Study 2 ( N = 67), participants were assigned to pray for a friend, pray about any topic, or think positive thoughts about a friend every day for 4 weeks. Those who prayed for their friend reported greater forgiveness for their friend than did those in the other two conditions, even when we controlled for baseline forgiveness scores. Participants who prayed for their friend also increased in selfless concern during the 4 weeks, and this variable mediated the relationship between experimental condition and increased forgiveness. Together, these studies provide an enhanced understanding of the relationship benefits of praying for a partner and begin ...
Research Interests: Religion, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Social Psychology, Adolescent, and 15 moreMedicine, Motivation, Forgiveness, Humans, Female, Male, Romance, Religion and psychology, Interpersonal Relations, Longitudinal Studies, Psychological Science, Friends, Personal Satisfaction, Object Attachment, and Conflict Psychology
Research Interests: Altruism, Medicine, Intention, Forgiveness, Marriage, and 15 moreFactor analysis, Humans, Business and Management, Female, Male, Interpersonal Relations, Marital Quality, Beneficence, Middle Aged, Adult, Couple, Discriminant Validity, Correlation Dimension, Life Change Events, and Conflict Psychology
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Subjects furnished autobiographical accounts of being angered (victim narratives) and of angering someone else (perpetrator narratives). The provoking behavior was generally portrayed by the perpetrator as meaningful and comprehensible,... more
Subjects furnished autobiographical accounts of being angered (victim narratives) and of angering someone else (perpetrator narratives). The provoking behavior was generally portrayed by the perpetrator as meaningful and comprehensible, whereas the victim tended to depict it as arbitrary, gratuitous, or incomprehensible. Victim accounts portrayed the incident in a long-term context that carried lasting implications, especially of continuing harm, loss, and grievance. Perpetrator accounts tended to cast the incident as a closed, isolated incident that did not have lasting implications. Several findings fit a hypothesis that interpersonal conflicts may arise when a victim initially stifles anger and then finally responds to an accumulated series of provocations, whereas the perpetrator perceives only the single incident and regards the angry response as an unjustified overreaction. Victim and perpetrator roles are associated with different subjective interpretations.