Negative speaks louder than positive: negative implicit partner evaluations forecast destructive daily interactions and relationship decline

Abstract

Romantic relationships are affectively complex. Any given interaction consists of both rewarding and aversive features. Recent work has shown that implicit partner evaluations (IPEs)—evaluations spontaneously triggered when one thinks about one’s partner—are also affectively complex. Does such complexity in IPEs help individuals navigate rewarding and aversive aspects inherent in interactions? The present work examined the proposition that negative IPEs uniquely forecast aversive daily relationship behaviors, whereas positive IPEs uniquely forecast rewarding daily relationship behaviors. Individuals self-identified as in a heterosexual romantic relationship completed measures to assess their implicit and explicit partner evaluations at two time points, spanning a three-month period, as well as a daily diary component. Time-1 negative IPEs forecasted perceiving and enacting negative behaviors during a 14-day daily diary, which, in turn, predicted deterioration in explicit partner and relationship evaluations 3-months later. The predictive ability of negative IPEs remained even after statistically controlling for positive IPEs and explicit evaluations. Positive IPEs were weak and inconsistent predictors of outcomes. The findings shine a spotlight on the differential functions of positive and negative IPEs, the importance of assessing negative IPEs independently from positive IPEs, and the role of negative IPEs in predicting destructive relationship experiences.