POWER AND PROBLEM APPRAISAL - PERCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE CHILLING EFFECT IN DATING RELATIONSHIPS

Previous research indicating that a dating partner's power exerts a ch illing effect on confrontation has highlighted the role of anticipated negative consequences in decisions to withhold complaints. We suggest ed that a second reason for avoiding confrontation, perceiving problem s to be trivial, is also promoted by attributing power to dating partn ers. We investigated the extent to which perceptions of a partner's po wer influenced the appraised severity of hypothetical problem scenario s and the likelihood that individuals would avoid confrontation in tho se situations. Results indicated that attributing either dependence or punitive power to dating partners corresponded with less severe appra isals of problems and plans to avoid confrontation. Contrary to our ex pectations, problem severity appraisals did not mediate associations b etween perceptions of a partner's power and plans to avoid confrontati on. The discussion highlights the implications of these results for in vestigations of power in dating relationships and research on relation ship maintenance.