PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New research: When it hurts to think we were made for each other

New research: When it hurts to think we were made for each other
2014-07-24
(Press-News.org) Toronto - Aristotle said, "Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies." Poetic as it is, thinking that you and your partner were made in heaven for each other can hurt your relationship, says a new study.

Psychologists observe that people talk and think about love in apparently limitless ways but underlying such diversity are some common themes that frame how we think about relationships. For example, one popular frame considers love as perfect unity ("made for each other," "she's my other half"); in another frame, love is a journey ("look how far we've come," "we've been through all these things together"). These two ways of thinking about relationships are particularly interesting because, according to study authors social psychologists Spike W. S. Lee of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management and Norbert Schwarz of the University of Southern California, they have the power to highlight or downplay the damaging effect of conflicts on relationship evaluation. Here's why. If two people were really made in heaven for each other, why should they have any conflicts?

"Our findings corroborate prior research showing that people who implicitly think of relationships as perfect unity between soulmates have worse relationships than people who implicitly think of relationships as a journey of growing and working things out," says Prof. Lee. "Apparently, different ways of talking and thinking about love relationship lead to different ways of evaluating it."

In one experiment, Profs. Lee and Schwarz had people in long-term relationships complete a knowledge quiz that included expressions related to either unity or journey, then recall either conflicts or celebrations with their romantic partner, and finally evaluate their relationship. As predicted, recalling conflicts leads people to feel less satisfied with their relationship—but only with the unity frame in mind, not with the journey frame in mind. Recalling celebrations makes people satisfied with their relationship regardless of how they think about it.

In a two follow-up experiments, the study authors invoked the unity vs. journey frame in even subtler, more incidental ways. For example, people were asked to identify pairs of geometric shapes to form a full circle (activating unity) or draw a line that gets from point A to point B through a maze (activating journey). Such non-linguistic, merely pictorial cues were sufficient to change the way people evaluated relationships. Again, conflicts hurt relationship satisfaction with the unity frame in mind, not with the journey frame in mind.

Next time you and your partner have a conflict, as Profs. Lee and Schwarz would advise, think what you said at the altar, "I, ____, take you, ____, to be my husband/wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward 'till death do us part." It's a journey. You'll feel better now, and you'll do better down the road.

INFORMATION: The study was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

For the latest thinking on business, management and economics from the Rotman School of Management, visit http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/FacultyAndResearch/NewThinking.aspx.

The Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto is redesigning business education for the 21st century with a curriculum based on Integrative Thinking. Located in the world's most diverse city, the Rotman School fosters a new way to think that enables the design of creative business solutions. For more information, visit http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca.

For more information:

Ken McGuffin
Manager, Media Relations
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto
Voice 416.946.3818
E-mail mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca
Follow Rotman on Twitter @rotmanschool
Watch Rotman on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/rotmanschool

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
New research: When it hurts to think we were made for each other

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Four billion-year-old chemistry in cells today

2014-07-24
Parts of the primordial soup in which life arose have been maintained in our cells today according to scientists at the University of East Anglia. Research published today in the Journal of Biological Chemistry reveals how cells in plants, yeast and very likely also in animals still perform ancient reactions thought to have been responsible for the origin of life – some four billion years ago. The primordial soup theory suggests that life began in a pond or ocean as a result of the combination of metals, gases from the atmosphere and some form of energy, such as a lightning ...

Western Indian Ocean communities play vital role in conservation

2014-07-24
An international team of researchers led by the University of York has carried out the first assessment of community-led marine conservation in the Western Indian Ocean. The results, reported in the journal PLOS ONE, point to a revolution in the management of marine protected areas, with almost half of the sites – more than 11,000 km² – in the region now under local community stewardship. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are zones of the seas and coasts designed to protect wildlife from damage and disturbance and managed typically by governments rather than by local communities. ...

Melatonin reduces traumatic brain injury-induced oxidative stress

2014-07-24
Traumatic brain injury can cause post-traumatic neurodegenerations with an increase in reactive oxygen species and reactive oxygen species-mediated lipid peroxidation. Melatonin, a non-enzymatic antioxidant and neuroprotective agent, has been shown to counteract oxidative stress-induced pathophysiologic conditions like cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, neuronal excitotoxicity and chronic inflammation. Therefore, the research team at the Neuroscience Research Center, University of Suleyman Demire, led by Prof. Mustafa Nazıroğlu, aimed to evaluate whether there ...

Cost-effective, solvothermal synthesis of heteroatom (S or N)-doped graphene developed

2014-07-24
A research team led by group leader Yung-Eun Sung has announced that they have developed cost-effective technology to synthesize sulfur-doped and nitrogen-doped graphenes which can be applied as high performance electrodes for secondary batteries and fuel cells. Yung-Eun Sung is both a group leader at the Center for Nanoparticle Research at Institute for Basic Science* (IBS) and a professor at the Seoul National University. This achievement has great significance with regards to the development of relative simplicity, scalablity, and cost effectiveness processes that ...

Who can control the potential targets against cell apoptosis after TIA in the elderly?

2014-07-24
Mitochondria play an important role in neuronal apoptosis caused by cerebral ischemia. Researchers at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, China discovered transient ischemia led to cell apoptosis in the hippocampus and changes in memory and cognition of aged rats. Differential proteomics analysis suggested that this phenomenon may be mediated by mitochondrial proteins associated with energy metabolism and apoptosis in aged rats. This study reported in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 11, 2014) provides potential drug targets for the treatment of ...

Laser therapy on the repair of a large-gap transected sciatic nerve in a reinforced nerve conduit

2014-07-24
Researchers at Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, led by Prof. Liu, Dr. Shen and Mrs. Yang have developed a biodegradable nerve conduit containing genipin-cross-linked gelatin was annexed using beta-tricalcium phosphate (TCP) ceramic particles (Genipin-Gelatin-TCP, GGT) to bridge the transection of a 15 mm sciatic nerve in rats. The effects of LLL therapy on peripheral nerve restoration and regeneration have systematically investigated throughout the study period. Very few studies have employed tubulation in combination with diode laser therapy ...

Researchers find mechanism that clears excess of protein linked with Type 2 diabetes

2014-07-24
The cellular process autophagy appears to not work properly, contributing to the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells People with Type 2 diabetes have an excess of a protein called islet amyloid polypeptide, or IAPP, and the accumulation of this protein is linked to the loss of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. What causes this accumulation of IAPP in pancreatic beta cells of people with diabetes has remained a mystery. But a team of researchers from the Larry L. Hillblom Islet Research Center led by Dr. Peter Butler, professor of medicine at UCLA, may ...

Astronomers come up dry in search for water on exoplanets

2014-07-24
TORONTO, ON (23 JULY 2014) – A team of astronomers has made the most precise measurements yet of water vapour in the atmospheres of Jupiter-like planets beyond our Solar System and found them to be much drier worlds than expected. The team, including Dr. Nicolas Crouzet of the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto, has found that the abundance of atmospheric water vapour is between ten and a thousand times less than what models predict. "The low water vapour levels are surprising," says Crouzet. "Our models predict a much higher abundance ...

One route to malaria drug resistance found

One route to malaria drug resistance found
2014-07-24
Researchers have uncovered a way the malaria parasite becomes resistant to an investigational drug. The discovery, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, also is relevant for other infectious diseases including bacterial infections and tuberculosis. The study appears July 24 in Nature Communications. Many organisms, including the parasite that causes malaria, make a class of molecules called isoprenoids, which play multiple roles in keeping organisms healthy, whether plants, animals or bacteria. In malaria, the investigational drug fosmidomycin blocks ...

New methods of detecting Salmonella in pork meat processing

2014-07-24
Traditional methods of characterising and detecting bacteria are often slow and time-consuming. Therefore, development of new methods of characterising and detecting illness-causing microorganisms is very important for improving food safety. Trine Hansen, PhD student at the National Food Institute, has studied new methods of characterising Salmonella in pork meat processing and detecting unknown bacteria in water, feed and food samples. The research project has given a better understanding of which factors in pork meat processing may contribute to the development of ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

CMD-OPT model enables the discovery of a potent and selective RIPK2 inhibitor as preclinical candidate for the treatment of acute liver injury

Melatonin receptor 1a alleviates sleep fragmentation-aggravated testicular injury in T2DM by suppression of TAB1/TAK1 complex through FGFR1

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals Shen-Bai-Jie-Du decoction retards colorectal tumorigenesis by regulating the TMEM131–TNF signaling pathway-mediated differentiation of immunosuppressive dendritic ce

Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B Volume 15, Issue 7 Publishes

New research expands laser technology

Targeted radiation offers promise in patients with metastasized small cell lung cancer to the brain

A high clinically translatable strategy to anti-aging using hyaluronic acid and silk fibroin co-crosslinked hydrogels as dermal regenerative fillers

Mount Sinai researchers uncover differences in how males and females change their mind when reflecting on past mistakes

CTE and normal aging are difficult to distinguish, new study finds

Molecular arms race: How the genome defends itself against internal enemies

Tiny chip speeds up antibody mapping for faster vaccine design

KTU experts reveal why cultural heritage is important for community unity

More misfolded proteins than previously known may contribute to Alzheimer’s and dementia

“Too much going on”: Autistic adults overwhelmed by non-verbal social cues

What’s driving America’s deep freezes in a warming world?

A key role of brain protein in learning and memory is deciphered by scientists

Heart attacks don’t follow a Hollywood script

Erin M. Schuman wins 2026 Nakasone Award for discovery on neural synapse function and change during formation of memories

Global ocean analysis could replace costly in-situ sound speed profiles in seafloor positioning, study finds

Power in numbers: Small group professional coaching reduces rates of physician burnout by nearly 30%

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage: A comprehensive review of CCUS-EOR

New high-temperature stable dispersed particle gel for enhanced profile control in CCUS applications

State gun laws and firearm-related homicides and suicides

Use of tobacco and cannabis following state-level cannabis legalization

Long-term obesity and biological aging in young adults

Eindhoven University of Technology and JMIR Publications announce unlimited open access publishing agreement

Orphan nuclear receptors in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease development

A technological breakthrough for ultra-fast and greener AI

Pusan National University researchers identify key barriers hindering data-driven smart manufacturing adoption

Inking heterometallic nanosheets: A scalable breakthrough for coating, electronics, and electrocatalyst applications

[Press-News.org] New research: When it hurts to think we were made for each other