Paige Butauski – Psychology

Thought Confidence Poster

Are you sure about that? Thought Confidence and Relationship Quality in Romantic Conflict Interactions

The thoughts that romantic partners generate during relationship conflict can greatly influence their attitudes towards their relationship and their emotional experiences (Baucom, Epstein, Sayers, & Sher, 1989; Bradbury & Fincham, 1987). According to the self-validation hypothesis, however, a person’s thoughts may be more impactful on their subsequent judgements, attitudes, and feelings when the individual is confident in these thoughts (Briñol & Petty, 2009). The present studies aimed to determine whether thought confidence moderates the relationship between thought valence (i.e., the positivity or negativity of the thought) and relationship and personal outcomes. Participants in Study 1 (N= 294) recalled a past conflict discussion in their relationship and listed the thoughts they had during the interaction. Results showed that thought confidence moderated the relationship between thought valence and perceived relationship quality, but not between thought valence and positive or negative affect. Participants in Study 2 (N= 201) thought of a current top source of conflict in their relationship and imagined having a conflict discussion with their partner about the issue. Results showed that as confidence in negative thoughts increases, negative affect also increases, and intimacy and relationship satisfaction decrease. In Study 3 (N= 101), participants were randomly assigned to write down the negative thoughts they had during their imaginary conflict discussion with either their dominant or non-dominant hand, in order to manipulate thought confidence. Participants writing with their dominant hand experienced higher levels of negative affect and lower levels of positive affect compared to those writing with their non-dominant hand. The thought confidence manipulation was not strong enough to produce any differences in perceived relationship quality. Overall, the findings of the three studies suggest that thought confidence may help explain when an individual’s thoughts influence their relationship and personal outcomes, providing insight into how couples can more adaptively navigate the task of engaging in conflict interactions.