LIFE EVENTS, RELATIONSHIP QUALITY, AND DEPRESSION - AN INVESTIGATION OF JUDGMENT DISCONTINUITY IN-VIVO

Relationships among stressful life events, negative affect, and judged quality of intimate relationships were explored. Three studies and a mini-meta-analysis revealed that as negative life events increased, ju dgments of close relationships gradually became less favorable, jumped back toward positivity, and then, again, gradually became less favora ble. The same methods of analysis revealed a relationship between nega tive life events and negative affect with no evidence of significant d iscontinuities. Moreover, the correlation between relationship satisfa ction and negative affect (with negative events held constant), was ma ximized at the point of relationship-judgment discontinuity. Although the findings are complex, they are consistent with the authors' theore tical account and represent an initial attempt to conceptualize the ef fect of negative life events in light of the recent social judgment li terature.