RESEARCH OVERVIEW
WHAT WE DO
“Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source.”
- AnaÑ—s Nin
One of the greatest potential benefits of close relationships is that they can help people satisfy a fundamental human motivation: the need to belong and feel accepted. Unfortunately, not all people are equally skilled at reaping the benefits of close relationships. As the above quote points out, relationships suffer when people lack the strategies necessary for cultivating and sustaining feelings of love and belonging over the long-term.
In our research we use experimental, observational, and daily diary methodologies in an attempt to identify which individuals use (or fail to use) relationships as a resource for belonging and whether, under the right conditions, even those less skilled in relationship-regulation can benefit from connecting with others. Importantly, our research highlights the role of implicit (relatively unconscious, automatic) self and relationship processes in this endeavor.
MAINELY DATA 2015
(left to right)
Janelle Sherman, Alyssa Mazzariello, Jill Casazza, Julie Peterson, Victoria Bryan, Lacey Durkee, Allison Symonds
