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Relationship autonomy and support provision in romantic relationships

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Abstract

Researchers have recently argued that SDT is a fundamental theory of relationship functioning and development. Specifically, prior research has proposed that self-determined motivations to be in one’s relationship—known as relationship autonomy—are associated with more adaptive relationship functioning. While empirical research has explored the association between relationship autonomy and defensiveness, the link with pro-partner behaviors such as support provision has received relatively little attention. The present research tested, across three studies, whether relationship autonomy is associated with more care for one’s partner. Three studies—one cross-sectional, one diary, and one dyadic study—suggest that relationship autonomy is associated with overall supportiveness both in the form of secure base support and basic psychological need support. Additionally, relationship autonomy was associated with less intrusiveness, suggesting that higher relationship autonomy is not simply associated with hyper-vigilance and being overbearing, but rather attention to the partner’s needs.

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Notes

  1. At the request of an anonymous reviewer, we also ran exploratory analyses for Studies 1–3 in which relationship autonomy was broken down into two subscales reflecting autonomous motivations and controlled motivations. In doing so, we constructed these scales based on scoring done by Hui et al. (2013), in which the autonomous relationship motivation subscale was calculated by the first part of the algorithm: (Intrinsic × 3) + (Integrated × 2) + (Identified × 1) (α = .90), and the controlled relationship motivation subscale was calculated by the second part of the algorithm: (Introjected × −1) + (External × −2) + (Amotivation × −3) (α = .78). We then replicated the main analyses reported in each study, replacing relationship autonomy with the subscales of autonomous and controlled relationship motivations. In Studies 1 and 2, autonomous relationship motivations were uniquely associated with more availability, encouragement, and (margainally) overall secure base support. Additionally, autonomous relationship motivations were associated with marginally less intrusiveness in Study 2, but not Study 1. Controlled relationship motivations, meanwhile, were associated with less availability, encouragement, and overall secure base support, and more intrusiveness in Studies 1 and 2. Further, although autonomous and controlled relationship motivations were associated with more and less responsiveness in Study 1, respectively, neither was significantly associated with responsiveness in Study 2. Further, in Study 3, partner autonomous relationship motivations were associated with more relatedness, autonomy, and overall need support received, but were not associated with competence support. Partner controlled relationship motivations, meanwhile, were marginally associated with less relatedness, competence, and overall need support, but not with autonomy support. These additional results generally suggest that the associations between relationship autonomy and support provision are not driven solely by autonomous or controlled motivations, but rather by the entire continuum of self-determination.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204-5022, USA

    Benjamin W. Hadden, Lindsey M. Rodriguez, C. Raymond Knee & Ben Porter

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  1. Benjamin W. Hadden
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  2. Lindsey M. Rodriguez
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  3. C. Raymond Knee
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Correspondence to Benjamin W. Hadden.

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Hadden, B.W., Rodriguez, L.M., Knee, C.R. et al. Relationship autonomy and support provision in romantic relationships. Motiv Emot 39, 359–373 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-014-9455-9

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