engleski

Time perspective, perceived stress, self-control and relationship satisfaction in heterosexual dating relationships

Stress seems to lower our relationship satisfaction, regardless of whether it comes from the relationship or spills over from outside sources. It does that by impairing our self-control which then leads to less satisfaction. However, it is our perception of stress that shapes our reactions, so it is also important to investigate what shapes that perception, something close relationship researchers have not focused on so far. Time-perspective (TP), the tendency to categorize events into past, present and future, seems to be a promising construct for investigation in this context. Previous research showed that being present fatalistic and oriented towards the negative past is associated with more percieved stress. So we wanted to extend these findings to the context of dating relationships. We hypothesized that present fatalism and past negative TPs will be associated with less relationship satisfaction and more percieved stress. Also we expected percieved stress and self-control to significantly mediate the association between TP and relationship satisfaction. A total of 135 couples in heterosexual dating relationships participated in the study. We collected data using the Zimbardo Time-Perspective Inventory, Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), The Brief Self-Control Scale, and the Relationship Satisfaction Scale. Results confirmed the negative association between stress and relationship satisfaction, and impaired self-control significantly mediated this association. Furthermore, past negative TP predicted lower, and future TP predicted higher relationship satisfaction. Present fatalism did not seem to play a significant role. Also, having a past negative orientation was associated with more perceived stress which was associated to poorer behavioral self-control which in turn was associated with less relationship satisfaction. Results are discussed in light of some gender specific patterns and practical implications for working with couples under stress.

time-perspective ; perceived stress ; self-control ; relationship satisfaction ; dating

nije evidentirano