INTIMACY AND NEED FULFILLMENT IN COUPLE RELATIONSHIPS

Two studies were conducted to explore the following questions: (i) doe s intimacy, within the context of a couple relationship, contribute to individual need fulfillment?; (ii) does self-disclosure have benefici al effects on need fulfillment without being accompanied by intimacy's others dimensions: positive affective tone and partner listening and understanding?; and (iii) does intimacy's impact on need fulfillment m ediate its relationship with physical and psychological wellbeing? For the first study, 154 commuter university students completed questionn aire measures of well-being and the Need Fulfillment Inventory (NFI), a new paper-and-pencil test that assesses the agentic and communal dim ensions of need fulfillment. Results from study 1 showed positive corr elations between both agentic and communal need fulfillment and well-b eing. For the second study, 133 cohabiting couples were asked to compl ete the NFI, two measures of relational intimacy, five measures of wel l-being, and to keep a daily record of their interactions for a week. Factor analyses of the daily record data revealed three dimensions of verbally intimate interaction: positive affective tone, daily self-dis closure, and listening and understanding. Results supported the notion that relational intimacy, assessed globally and as a characteristic o f the couples' daily interactions, is positively associated with indiv idual need fulfillment. Self-disclosure's impact on need fulfillment w as found to vary as a function of the other dimensions of intimacy pre sent in the interactions. The pattern of moderation between self-discl osure and other dimensions of intimacy was not exactly as predicted, h owever; sometimes, self-disclosure may soften the detrimental effects of negative interactions on need fulfillment. Finally, the mediational hypothesis was mostly supported, which indicates that intimacy's rela tionship to psychological well-being is most likely accounted for by i ts effects on individual need fulfillment. Need fulfillment did not fu lly mediate the relationship between intimacy and depressive symptoms.