in Unmarried and Married Couples Perceived Support for Promotion-Focused and Prevention-Focused Goals : Associations With Well-Being

Perceived emotional support from close relationship partners in times of stress is a major predictor of well-being. However, recent research has suggested that, beyond emotional support, perceived support for achieving personal goals is also important for well-being. The present study extends such research by demonstrating that associations of perceived goal support with well-being differ depending on how people represent their goals and the general motivational context in which they pursue these goals. Among unmarried romantic partners, for whom the context of the relationship presumably is largely attainment oriented, perceived support for attainmentrelevant (or promotion-focused) goals independently predicted relationship and personal well-being, whereas perceived support for maintenance-relevant (or prevention-focused) goals did not. In contrast, among married partners, for whom the context of the relationship presumably is both attainment and maintenance oriented, perceived support for both promotion-focused and prevention-focused goals independently predicted well-being. We discuss the implications for forecasting and improving well-being among married couples. The relationships that people form have profound influences on their psychological functioning. One primary source of this influence is the support that their relationship partners provide through the setbacks and triumphs they regularly experience. Indeed, this perceived support is among the strongest predictors of relationship satisfaction, happiness, and overall well-being (Brunstein, 1993; Diener & Fujita, 1995; Myers, 1992; Ruehlman & Wolchik, 1988). Research on social support and well-being has often focused on perceived emotional support in times of stress (Cutrona, 1996; Sarason, Sarason, & Pierce, 1994). However, recent studies have also explored the role of perceived support from romantic partners in achieving personal goals. Feeney (2004) showed that perceived encouragement from romantic partners while discussing personal goals predicts immediate increases in self-esteem, positive mood, and beliefs that these goals are achievable. Brunstein, Dangelmayer, and Schultheiss (1996) further showed that feeling that romantic partners understand and assist in goal pursuit predicts increased positive mood and greater progress toward goal completion 4 weeks later (see also Ruehlman & Wolchik, 1988). Drigotas and his colleagues (Drigotas, 2002; Drigotas, Rusbult, Wieselquist, & Whitton, 1999) even demonstrated that the belief that a romantic partner affirms and elicits one’s personal aspirations predicts increased relationship well-being, increased personal well-being, and perceived attainment of these aspirations several months later. Thus, perceived support for personal goals also appears to make important contributions to well-being. However, much research has shown that not all goals are created equal. The distinct goals people adopt, and their distinct representations of these goals, can fundamentally alter goal pursuit (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Higgins, 1997; Molden & Dweck, 2006). The study described here integrated research on perceived support for personal goals and research on goal-pursuit processes to investigate Address correspondence to Daniel Molden, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, 2029 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, IL 60208, e-mail: molden@northwestern.edu. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Volume 20—Number 7 787 Copyright r 2009 Association for Psychological Science at Vrije Universiteit 34820 on November 24, 2010 pss.sagepub. com Downloaded from how perceptions of romantic partners’ support for different kinds of personal goals differentially influence well-being. PROMOTION-FOCUSED AND PREVENTION-FOCUSED GOAL PURSUIT Goals differ in many ways, but psychologists have long made a distinction between those primarily focused on advancement, growth, and development and those primarily focused on security, safety, and protection (Maslow, 1955). Building on this distinction, Higgins (1997) proposed not only that concerns with advancement versus security define different types of goals, but also that people represent and experience advancement-oriented goals (promotion concerns) differently than security-oriented goals (prevention concerns). Promotion concerns revolve around attainment; they are represented as pursuing hopes and aspirations that ensure advancement and are experienced as accomplishing positive outcomes (i.e., gains; Higgins, 1997). In contrast, prevention concerns revolve around maintenance; they are represented as upholding responsibilities and obligations that are necessary to ensure security and are experienced as ensuring protection from negative outcomes (i.e., nonlosses; Higgins, 1997). When people are focused on promotion, they favor attaining new achievements over maintaining current achievements, value goals involving attainment or outcomes perceived as gains, and persist on tasks in which success promises rewards. In contrast, when people are focused on prevention, they favor maintaining current achievements over attaining new achievements, value goals involving maintenance or outcomes perceived as protecting against losses, and persist on tasks in which success promises safety from penalties (Brodscholl, Kober, & Higgins, 2007; Higgins, Idson, Freitas, Spiegel, & Molden, 2003; Liberman, Idson, Camacho, & Higgins, 1999; see Molden, Lee, & Higgins, 2008). EXPERIENCES OF GOAL SUPPORT IN UNMARRIED AND MARRIED COUPLES Because promotion-focused and prevention-focused goals evoke different representations and experiences, associations between well-being and perceived support for these distinct goals may further depend on one’s relationship with the partner providing the support. Studies have shown that the specific person providing support and the match between the support provided and one’s current needs affect how this support influences well-being (Cutrona & Russell, 1990; Dakoff & Taylor, 1990). Similarly, we hypothesize that associations of well-being with support for different types of goals may also vary by the broader motivational context of the relationship. Perceived support for one’s own promotion-focused or prevention-focused goals may have a higher correspondence with well-being in relationship contexts that generally evoke promotion or prevention concerns. People tend to view both aspirations and responsibilities as highly important, and all close relationships involve some concerns with both advancement and security. Therefore, correlations between well-being and perceived support for both promotion-focused and prevention-focused goals should exist across most relationship contexts. However, we propose that the motivational context of relationships between unmarried romantic partners is predominantly attainment focused (Berscheid & Regan, 2005). Unmarried partners may primarily evaluate their relationship in terms of how it is advancing and whether intimacy and interdependence are growing and developing. Within this attainment-oriented (promotion-focused) relationship context, partners could thus experience perceived support for their own generally promotion-focused goals (hopes, aspirations) as particularly relevant for their personal well-being and the well-being of their relationship. Furthermore, given this largely attainment-focused context, unmarried partnersmay be relatively less mindful of the security that their relationship provides and the more maintenance-oriented (preventionfocused) investments they are making in their relationship. Unmarried partners could thus experience support for their own generally prevention-focused goals (responsibilities, obligations) as less relevant for well-being than support for their promotion-focused goals. That is, for these individuals, perceived support for fulfilling prevention-focused goals may seem less central to the larger motivational context of the relationship than other concerns, and may thus be less associated with well-being. In contrast, we propose that the motivational context of relationships between married partners is broader and more maintenance focused than the motivational context of relationships between unmarried couples (Berscheid & Regan, 2005). Once married, people’s investments in their partner (both materially and psychologically) increase dramatically, and they become more centrally dependent on this relationship for fulfilling their needs (Rusbult & Van Lange, 2003). Thus, although they continue to evaluate whether their spouse is someone with whom their intimacy can grow, married individuals may also more thoroughly evaluate their relationship in terms of the security it provides and the investments they are maintaining. Within this increasingly maintenance-oriented relationship context, perceived support for prevention-focused goals may seem just as centrally relevant for the relationship, and be just as strongly associated with well-being, as perceived support for promotionfocused goals. Therefore, we hypothesize that, when considering the independent influences of perceived support for promotion-focused and prevention-focused goals, perceived support for promotionfocused goals should predict higher relationship and personal well-being among unmarried partners, but support for prevention-focused goals should not. In contrast, perceived support for 788 Volume 20—Number 7 Promotionand Prevention-Focused Support at Vrije Universiteit 34820 on November 24, 2010 pss.sagepub. com Downloaded from both promotion-focused and prevention-focused goals should uniquely predict higher well-being among married partners.