Explaining Variation in Contemporaneous Responses to Hurt in Premarital Romantic Relationships: A Relational Turbulence Model Perspective

Abstract

The authors use the relational turbulence model to derive hypotheses linking characteristics of relationships and reactions to hypothetical hurtful messages from a romantic relationship partner. It was hypothesized that relational uncertainty and perceptions of goal interference and facilitation from a partner predict perceptions of relational turbulence, which in turn predicts the intensity of hurt feelings, negative emotions, and the perceived intentionality of hurt evoked by hypothetical scenarios involving that partner. Participants in a web-based survey ( N = 381) completed measures of relationship qualities and recorded responses to five hypothetical scenarios that described their romantic partner delivering a potentially hurtful message. As anticipated, relationship uncertainty and interference from a partner predicted increased relational turbulence, whereas facilitation from a partner was associated with less turbulence; relational turbulence significantly predicted all three reactions to hurtful messages. The discussion highlights the contribution of the study to an understanding of hurtful messages by revealing the dynamic relational characteristics that influence people’s contemporaneous reactions to hurt.

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