Social relationships: the nature and function of relational schemas

✍ Scribed by John G. Holmes

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 397 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0046-2772
• DOI: 10.1002/1099-0992(200007/08)30:4<447::aid-ejsp10>3.0.co;2-q

✦ Synopsis

This paper reviews developments in the ®eld of close relationships from an interdependence theory perspective. It concludes that focusing on the relational, dyadic aspects of relationships has led to a much better understanding of social cognition and of interpersonal processes. In this vein, the nature and function of relational schemas seems a particularly promising new direction for research. It encompasses recent work on selfin-relation-to-other schema structure, the organization of schemas in cognitive networks, motivated construal in service of a need for felt security, and the dynamics of attachment and dependency regulation. Despite some impressive advances in research on close relationships, however, a more social psychological emphasis on the causal in¯uence of features of social situations on cognition and behavior is important for the future health of the ®eld.