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Guided by their own amoebic self theory (C. T. Burris & J. K. Rempel, 2004), in 6 studies the authors explore the impact that involvement in an intimate relationship has on how a person appraises and responds to threat. They first show that people in relationship feel less constrained by their physical bodies compared with single people. In 3 subsequent studies involving physical size, blood/body donation, sexual activities, and responses to evil, they show that generalized sensitivity to bodily threat predicts self-protective reactions to specific physical threats among singles, but not among people in relationship, suggesting that intimate relationship involvement decreases the salience of the physical body. In the final pair of studies, they show that the salience of the physical body rebounds when people in relationship are primed, either subliminally or supraliminally, to think of themselves as distinct and separate from their partners. Thus, the present research shows how conceptualizing the self as 'us' rather than 'me' can transform an individual's response to the outside world, and highlights how physical cues in particular are affected by this process. Keywords: self, boundaries, threat, relationship status, amoebic self theory

Based on Amoebic Self Theory, the authors propose that the salience of different threats to the self affects the extent to which an intimate relationship partner is pushed away (excluded) or pulled closer (included). When social threat is salient among persons in relationships, it is hypothesized that partners will attempt to defuse the resulting sense of interpersonal vulnerability: offending partners may be pushed away, whereas offenders themselves may draw closer. When spatial-symbolic threat is salient and the relationship's capacity to function as an identity marker is jeopardized, it is hypothesized that the partner--regardless of his or her role will be pulled closer to maintain the perception that the relationship is secure. Self-report responses to hypothetical scenarios and perceptions of behaviors during a role-play were generally consistent with these hypotheses, suggesting that both an intimate partner and the relationship with that partner can be incorporated into the self. Keywords: self; boundaries; threat; relationships

A cross-lagged panel design was used to examine the links between trust and attributional processes in a sample of 75 married couples throughout a period of 2 years. During the first phase of the study, participants completed a measure of marital trust, engaged in a laboratory, problem-solving discussion of a recurrent conflict-related issue, and then rated their partner's behavior and motives. Approximately 2 years later, 54 couples were again contacted and measures of trust were obtained. Forty of these couples also viewed a videotape of their laboratory problem-solving discussion from 2 years previously and rated their partner's behavior and motives. Results suggested a reciprocal causal pattern by which partner-enhancing attributions predict changes in trust and trust predicts changes in partner-enhancing attributions. Keywords: trust; close relationship; attribution; conflict

According to amoebic self theory, the boundary defining the self encompasses 3 levels of self-representation--bodily, social, and spatial-symbolic. Study 1 related a newly developed measure of individual differences in sensitivity to boundary threat across these 3 domains to values and disgust sensitivity. Four subsequent studies focused on spatial-symbolic threat sensitivity and related it to right-wing authoritarianism, aversive reactions to unfamiliar out-groups, and revulsion to vermin. A final experiment illustrates how a salient spatial-symbolic threat (dust mites) can elicit reactions toward out-groups that closely parallel mortality salience effects observed in research inspired by terror management theory, even though dust mites do not elicit mortality concerns. The importance of preserving the familiar in order to preserve the self is discussed.

We studied 114 romantically involved women to examine empirically the psychological connections between menstruation and sexuality. As menstruation is a distinctive sign of both reproductive potential and sexual maturity, we hypothesized that the attitudes women have towards menstruation will correlate with their sexual attitudes, desires, and behavior. As predicted, a comfort with personal sexuality was associated with a comfort with menstruation as a normal, publicly acceptable event. This association remained after controlling for liberal attitudes and disgust sensitivity. In addition, women who had engaged in sexual relations with their current partner during menses were significantly more comfortable with menstruation, more aroused by romantic and unconventional sexual activities, and less sensitive to disgust. KEY WORDS: sexuality; sexual desire; menstruation; disgust; values.

We examined the relationship between women's attitudes about male sexuality and the use of overt and covert pressure tactics to facilitate sex with reluctant or uninterested men. Measures of the likelihood of use of pressure tactics and of the acceptance of sexual stereotypes related to men's sexual interest and availability were completed by 234 women from southwestern Ontario. Women's reported likelihood o using both overt ([Beta] .31, p [is less than] .001) and covert ([Beta] .30, p [is less than] .001) pressure tactics were associated with a belief in male sexual availability for married women, and with a disagreement with beliefs in a gender-dependent sex drive for unmarried women ([Beta] -.32, p [is less than] .01). These results are discussed in terms of pervasive norms about men's sexual interest and the potential effects on men's and women's dating behavior., Men pursue sex and women resist, or so the traditional sexual scripts would have us believe. As recently as 1979, McCormick concluded that students still categorized 'having sex as a [...]

The attributional statements intimate partners communicate to one another were examined as a function of trust. In discussions by 35 married couples, 850 attributions and corresponding events were coded on dimensions of valence, globality, and locus. Results of regression and contingency analyses indicate that attributional statements expressed in high-trust relationships emphasized positive aspects of the relationship. Medium-trust couples actively engaged issues but focused more on negative events and explanations. Low-trust couples expressed more specific, less affectively extreme attributional statements that minimized the potential for increased conflict. Results could not be accounted for by relationship satisfaction. These findings also highlight the importance of focusing on features of the events for which attributions are expressed.

Abstract Trust and control are inextricably interlinked with risk in strategic alliances. Hence, to understand how partner firms can effectively reduce and manage this risk, we need to examine the [...]