Biomedical subjects

Jill N Kearns

Publications and source records attributed to Jill N Kearns.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Victim and perpetrator accounts of interpersonal transgressions: self-serving or relationship-serving biases?

Two studies investigated perpetrator and victim biases in reported transgressions. Study 1 showed that in nonromantic relationships, perpetrators were more likely than victims to emphasize details that minimized their transgressions, whereas victims were more likely to exaggerate the severity of the event. Study 2 examined these perspective-related differences in romantic relationships and their relationship to forgiveness. Although victims were less likely than perpetrators to include features that minimized the event, they were no more likely to include features that magnified the event; individuals in highly satisfying relationships were less likely to exhibit self-serving biases than were individuals in less satisfying relationships. The data also were consistent with a causal sequence in which positive relationship quality led to more benign interpretations of a transgression, which in turn, promoted forgiveness.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Social networks, structural interdependence, and marital quality over the transition to marriage: a prospective analysis.

This study examined the relationship between couples' network interdependence and marital quality in a sample of 347 couples that were recruited at the time of their first marriage. Husbands and wives completed separate, self-administered questionnaires at home. Analyses are based on data collected at the time of marriage, at the first anniversary, and at the second anniversary. Results indicated that after marriage, husbands' and wives' friend and family networks became increasingly interdependent. Moreover, the interdependence of the friend and family networks at marriage predicted wives' marital quality at the first anniversary, whereas wives' marital quality at the first anniversary predicted the interdependence of the friend network at the second anniversary. No significant longitudinal relations were observed for husbands.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

A prototype analysis of forgiveness.

Many definitions of forgiveness currently exist in the literature. The current research adds to this discussion by utilizing a prototype approach to examine lay conceptions of forgiveness. A prototype approach involves categorizing objects or events in terms of their similarity to a good example, whereas a classical approach requires that there are essential elements that must be present. In Study 1, participants listed the features of forgiveness. Study 2 obtained centrality ratings for these features. In Studies 3 and 4, central features were found to be more salient in memory than peripheral features. Study 5 showed that feature centrality influenced participants' ratings of victims involved in hypothetical transgressions. Thus, the two criteria for demonstrating prototype structure (that participants find it meaningful to judge features in terms of their centrality and that centrality affects cognition) were met.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

The transition to marriage and changes in alcohol involvement among black couples and white couples.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess whether the reduction in alcohol involvement typically associated with the transition to marriage differs for blacks, compared with whites. METHOD: Couples (n = 248, white; n = 100, black) in which both partners were entering into their first marriage were assessed at the time of marriage, their first anniversary and their second anniversary. At each wave, husbands and wives were each given an identical questionnaire packet to complete independently at home and a postage-paid envelope for packet return. A broad range of constructs was assessed, including personality characteristics, relationship functioning, drinking behaviors and social network characteristics. Alcohol involvement measures included average daily volume of consumption, frequency of heavy drinking, alcohol-related problems and alcohol dependence. RESULTS: Whites decreased their frequency of heavy drinking and alcohol dependence over the early marital years, whereas blacks remained relatively stable. Alcohol problem trajectories were similar for wives of both races. White men reported a decline in alcohol problems, whereas black men reported an increase in problems over the first 2 years of marriage. Racial differences in the alcohol involvement trajectories could not be attributable to racial differences in family formation or demographic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest limited generalizability of previous research, indicating a reduction in alcohol involvement associated with the transition to marriage. Individuals who continue to drink heavily after this transition may be at an especially high risk for the subsequent development of serious alcohol and marital problems.

Adolescent↗