TY - JOUR
T1 - Relatedness needs and negative fantasies as the origins of obsessive thinking in romantic relationships
AU - Valshtein, Timothy J.
AU - Mutter, Elizabeth R.
AU - Oettingen, Gabriele
AU - Gollwitzer, Peter M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2020/4/1
Y1 - 2020/4/1
N2 - Surprisingly little experimental research has been conducted regarding the origins of obsessive thinking. Based on prior research on basic psychological needs (Sheldon and Gunz in J Pers 77(5):1467–1492, 2009) and future fantasies (Kappes and Oettingen in J Exp Soc Psychol 47(4):719–729, 2011), we proposed that a threat to the need for relatedness increases obsessive thinking about a romantic partner (i.e., a need-relevant target) when combined with a negatively valenced future fantasy about the partner. We tested this hypothesis in three experiments: Experiment 1, administered online, used a meta-cognitive relatedness threat manipulation, a scenario-based fantasy valence manipulation, and a measure of obsessive thinking. Experiment 2 used a modified fantasy valence manipulation, a new obsessive thinking measure, and a measure of romantic proximity-seeking. Experiment 3 used cyberball to manipulate relatedness threat in the lab. An internal meta-analysis revealed that threats to relatedness (vs. no threat) and negative fantasies (vs. positive fantasies) both led to small increases in obsessive thinking; however, inconsistent evidence emerged for the hypothesized threat-by-fantasy valence interaction.
AB - Surprisingly little experimental research has been conducted regarding the origins of obsessive thinking. Based on prior research on basic psychological needs (Sheldon and Gunz in J Pers 77(5):1467–1492, 2009) and future fantasies (Kappes and Oettingen in J Exp Soc Psychol 47(4):719–729, 2011), we proposed that a threat to the need for relatedness increases obsessive thinking about a romantic partner (i.e., a need-relevant target) when combined with a negatively valenced future fantasy about the partner. We tested this hypothesis in three experiments: Experiment 1, administered online, used a meta-cognitive relatedness threat manipulation, a scenario-based fantasy valence manipulation, and a measure of obsessive thinking. Experiment 2 used a modified fantasy valence manipulation, a new obsessive thinking measure, and a measure of romantic proximity-seeking. Experiment 3 used cyberball to manipulate relatedness threat in the lab. An internal meta-analysis revealed that threats to relatedness (vs. no threat) and negative fantasies (vs. positive fantasies) both led to small increases in obsessive thinking; however, inconsistent evidence emerged for the hypothesized threat-by-fantasy valence interaction.
KW - Fantasies
KW - Need frustration
KW - Obsessive thinking
KW - Relatedness
KW - Romantic relationships
KW - Self-determination theory
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85073828043&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11031-019-09802-9
DO - 10.1007/s11031-019-09802-9
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85073828043
SN - 0146-7239
VL - 44
SP - 226
EP - 243
JO - Motivation and Emotion
JF - Motivation and Emotion
IS - 2
ER -