Attributions for expectancy violating changes in affectionate behavior in platonic friendships

Citation
K. Floyd et M. Voloudakis, Attributions for expectancy violating changes in affectionate behavior in platonic friendships, J PSYCHOL, 133(1), 1999, pp. 32-48
Citations number
37
Categorie Soggetti
Psycology
Journal title
JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY
ISSN journal
00223980 → ACNP
Volume
133
Issue
1
Year of publication
1999
Pages
32 - 48
Database
ISI
SICI code
0022-3980(199901)133:1<32:AFEVCI>2.0.ZU;2-K
Abstract
Although affectionate communication is vital for the maintenance of close, personal relationships, it has the potential to generate negative as well a s positive outcomes, which may in part be a function of what attributions a re made for affectionate expressions. The present experiment applied princi ples of attribution theory to unexpected changes in affectionate communicat ion within dyads of adult platonic friends. Results indicated that attribut ions are more often made for decreases in affection than for increases. Con trary to the prediction of the fundamental attribution error, all the parti cipants more often made external, noncontrollable attributions for changes in affectionate behavior, and the intimacy level of the friendship moderate d this effect. Finally, the types of attributions made were associated with a recipient's evaluations of the giver's affectionate behavior and his or her assessment of the giver's character.