IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i18p6880-d416507.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Theoretical Boundary Conditions of Partner Buffering in Romantic Relationships

Author

Listed:
  • Jami Eller

    (Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA)

  • Jeffry A. Simpson

    (Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA)

Abstract

Attachment insecurity is consequential for both personal and relationship wellbeing. Some research has documented that partner buffering can downregulate insecure individuals’ immediate feelings of distress, allowing them to feel more secure at least temporarily. The benefits of partner buffering, however, may be limited by several contextual factors. In this article, we identify boundary conditions that may curb or amplify the benefits of partner buffering for both targets (those who receive buffering) and agents (those who enact buffering). We suggest that motivation, ability, and timing may all affect partner buffering outcomes for targets and agents. If partner buffering is delivered in an adaptive way that does not reinforce the target’s insecure tendencies, it may help insecure targets learn that they can trust and depend on their partners (agents), which may facilitate greater security in targets. We recommend that future research consider these contextual factors and examine partner buffering as an inherently dyadic relationship process capable of enhancing attachment security.

Suggested Citation

  • Jami Eller & Jeffry A. Simpson, 2020. "Theoretical Boundary Conditions of Partner Buffering in Romantic Relationships," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-15, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:18:p:6880-:d:416507
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/18/6880/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/18/6880/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tara L. Gruenewald & Diana H. Liao & Teresa E. Seeman, 2012. "Contributing to Others, Contributing to Oneself: Perceptions of Generativity and Health in Later Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 67(6), pages 660-665.
    2. Angela C. Rowe & Emily R. Gold & Katherine B. Carnelley, 2020. "The Effectiveness of Attachment Security Priming in Improving Positive Affect and Reducing Negative Affect: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-22, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alma Au & Simon Lai & Wen Wu & Jan Hofer & Holger Busch & Iva Poláčková Šolcová & Peter Tavel & Sheung-Tak Cheng, 2020. "Generativity and Positive Emotion in Older Adults: Mediation of Achievement and Altruism Goal Attainment Across Three Cultures," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 677-692, February.
    2. Molli R. Grossman & Diana Wang & Tara L. Gruenewald, 2019. "Variations in Daily Cognitive Affective States as a Function of Variations in Daily Generative Activity," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 19-34, January.
    3. Carly Roman & Christopher R. Beam & Elizabeth Zelinski, 2022. "Psychosocial Outcomes of Age Integration Status: Do Age-Integrated Social Networks Benefit Older Adults?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-15, September.
    4. Yeatts, Dale E. & Pei, Xiaomei & Cready, Cynthia M. & Shen, Yuying & Luo, Hao & Tan, Junxin, 2013. "Village characteristics and health of rural Chinese older adults: Examining the CHARLS Pilot Study of a rich and poor province," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 71-78.
    5. Annamaria Di Fabio & Andrea Svicher, 2023. "The Eco-Generativity Scale (EGS): A New Resource to Protect the Environment and Promote Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(15), pages 1-13, July.
    6. Carina Göransson & Yvonne Wengström & Kristina Ziegert & Ann Langius‐Eklöf & Irene Eriksson & Annica Kihlgren & Karin Blomberg, 2017. "Perspectives of health and self‐care among older persons—To be implemented in an interactive information and communication technology‐platform," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(23-24), pages 4745-4755, December.
    7. Yu-Chih Chen & Natalee Hung & Bobo H. P. Lau & Rebecca M. P. Choy Yung & Ellmon S. M. Fung & Cecilia L. W. Chan, 2022. "Generativity and Gendered Pathways to Health: The Role of Human, Social, and Financial Capital Past Mid-Life," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-14, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:18:p:6880-:d:416507. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.