1. Relationship-Contingencies and Mate Retention Behavior
Christopher J. Holden & Virgil Zeigler-Hill
Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI
Introduction
Romantic relationships are an important aspect of life and can be the source of happiness, pride, and support. It is easy to see why individuals would choose to invest time and resources in their romantic relationships and engage in behaviors that prevent the defection of their partner. However, some individuals may begin to derive their feelings of self-worth from these relationships. These individuals are said to have developed relationship-contingent self-esteem (Knee, Canevello, Bush, & Cook, 2008). In turn, successes and failures within their romantic relationships may directly impact their self-esteem level. Therefore, these individuals may be particularly motivated to protect their tenuous feelings of self-worth and may adopt different tactics to maintain their romantic relationships.
The various tactics that individuals use to maintain their relationships have been formalized into a hierarchy of mate retention behaviors (Buss, 1988). Within this larger hierarchy, there are two domains of mate retention behaviors: benefit-provisioning behaviors and cost-inflicting behaviors. Benefit-provisioning behaviors consist of doing things to incentivize the partner to stay in the relationship (e.g., buying an expensive gift for the partner), whereas cost-inflicting behaviors involve making defection from the relationship more costly (e.g., pleading that you cannot live without your partner).
Considering that individuals with high levels of relationship-contingent self-esteem derive their feelings of self-worth from their romantic relationships, the current study aimed to determine if they differ in their choice of mate retention behaviors as compared to those individuals who are low in relationship contingent self-esteem, while accounting for self-esteem level.
Results
Two multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the unique association that self-esteem , relationship-contingent self-esteem, and their interaction term had with the two domains of mate retention behaviors. Benefit-provisioning behaviors and cost-inflicting behaviors were regressed onto self-esteem level and relationship-contingent self-esteem separately.
Benefit provisioning behaviors: It was found that both self-esteem level and relationship-contingent self-esteem were positively associated with benefit-provisioning behaviors. The interaction between self-esteem level and relationship-contingent self-esteem approached significance (p =.05). This finding suggests that individuals with high self-esteem, as well as high relationship-contingent self-esteem are more likely to engage in benefit provisioning behaviors. Despite only approaching significance, this moderation analysis was followed up with simple slopes testing.
Cost-inflicting behaviors: No significant main effects or interactions emerged for cost-inflicting behaviors.
Method
Participants and Procedure: Participants were 967 undergraduate students (749 female, 218 male) who received partial course credit for the completion of the study. To be eligible, participants must have been in a committed heterosexual relationship. The mean age was years (SD = 3.84) and the racial/ethnic composition was 78% white, 7% Black, 4% Hispanic, 4% Asian, and 7% other. The relationship status of our participants was 83% seriously dating, 7% cohabitating, 4% engaged, and 6% married.
Self-esteem Level: The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1965) was used to assess self-esteem level. The RSES is a 10-item measure of global self-esteem (e.g., “On the whole, I feel satisfied with myself”). Responses are made on a scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly disagree).
Relationship-contingent Self-esteem: Relationship-contingent self-esteem was assessed using the Relationship-Contingent Self-Esteem Scale (RCSES: Knee et al., 2008). The RCSES measures relationship contingent self-esteem using 11 items (e.g., “When my relationship is going well, I feel better about myself overall’). Participants provide responses to the 11 items on a scale ranging from 1 (not at all like me) to 5 (very much like me). The RCSES has been found to possess adequate psychometric properties (Knee et al., 2008).
Mate Retention Behaviors: Mate retention was assessed using the Mate Retention Inventory – Short Form (MRI-SF; Buss, Shackelford, & McKibbin, 2008). The MRI-SF consists of 38 items that asses the two domains of mate retention behaviors. Participants are asked to report how frequently they employed these behaviors within the past year, with responses ranging from 0 (never performed this act) to 3 (often performed this act). The MRI-SF has been shown to be a valid measure of mate retention behaviors (Buss et al., 2008; Shackelford, Goetz, & Buss, 2005).
Discussion
Taken together, our results suggest that self-esteem level and relationship-contingent self-esteem play a role in the use of mate retention strategies. More specifically, individuals with high levels of self-esteem who derive their feelings of self-worth from their romantic relationships are especially likely to employ benefit-provisioning behaviors. However, self-esteem level and relationship-contingent self-esteem were not associated with cost-inflicting mate retention behaviors. Taken together, these results suggest that individuals who derive their feelings of self-worth from their relationships may choose to retain their partner by doing things to incentivize their commitment to the relationship.