Optimizing assurance: The risk regulation system in relationships.

TLDR

Confidence in a partner’s positive regard and caring allows people to risk seeking dependence and connectedness. The study proposes a risk regulation model to explain how people balance seeking closeness to a romantic partner with minimizing the likelihood and pain of rejection. The system comprises three interconnected “if–then” contingency rules—cognitive, affective, and behavioral—whose sensitivity is shaped by general perceptions of a partner’s regard. The authors describe the consequences of such situated “if–then” rules for relationship well‑being and integrate other theoretical perspectives while outlining future research directions.

Abstract

A model of risk regulation is proposed to explain how people balance the goal of seeking closeness to a romantic partner against the opposing goal of minimizing the likelihood and pain of rejection. The central premise is that confidence in a partner's positive regard and caring allows people to risk seeking dependence and connectedness. The risk regulation system consists of 3 interconnected "if--then" contingency rules, 1 cognitive, 1 affective, and 1 behavioral. The authors describe how general perceptions of a partner's regard structure the sensitivity of these 3 "if--then" rules in risky relationship situations. The authors then describe the consequences of such situated "if--then" rules for relationship well-being and conclude by integrating other theoretical perspectives and outlining future research directions.