Abstract
In relationships, behaviors aimed at alleviating insecurity often end up increasing it instead. The present research tested whether a self-regulatory technique, mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII), can help people reduce the frequency with which they engage in insecurity-based behaviors. Participants in romantic relationships identified an insecurity-based behavior they wanted to reduce and learned the MCII strategy, a reverse control strategy, or no strategy. One week later, participants in the MCII condition showed a greater reduction in the self-reported frequency of their unwanted behavior compared to participants in the control conditions, as well as a greater increase in relationship commitment from 2 months prior to the intervention.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 224-233 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Motivation and Emotion |
Volume | 37 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2013 |
Keywords
- Insecurity
- Mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII)
- Relationships
- Self-regulation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology