The Course of Well-Being in Romantic Relationships: Predicting Positive Affect in Dating Participants

Abstract

People use different methods to make themselves happier, but their attempts at lasting happiness are often thwarted by the hedonic adaptation process. We examined changes in well-being over 8 weeks in participants who were involved in romantic relationships and those who were not. On average, both groups declined in well-being over time, but the relationship group experienced more positive emotions overall. High positive affect was predicted by higher aspirations, higher passionate love, and being in a same-ethnicity relationship. None of the variables we measured significantly predicted changes in positive affect over time, which may be due to the short duration of the study.

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Bao, K. (2012). The Course of Well-Being in Romantic Relationships: Predicting Positive Affect in Dating Participants. Psychology, 3, 1091-1099. doi: 10.4236/psych.2012.312A161.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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