Autonomy support in disclosure and privacy maintenance regulation within romantic relationships

Abstract

Romantic partners vary in their desire to share private information, and each partner must use appropriate strategies to elicit disclosure or maintain privacy from one’s partner. In the present work, we propose that strategies that support the partner’s autonomy, rather than being controlling, may be more acceptable and effective in eliciting disclosure and maintaining privacy in romantic relationships. In Study 1 (N = 268 individuals), participants rated the acceptability and effectiveness of autonomy supportive and controlling strategies presented in hypothetical scenarios. In Study 2 (N = 78 couples), we coded romantic partners’ use of autonomy supportive and controlling strategies in recorded conversations, then assessed the acceptability and effectiveness of strategies. In both studies, autonomy supportive strategies were perceived as more acceptable and more effective than controlling strategies for eliciting disclosure and maintaining privacy from one’s partner. Additionally, results of Study 2 demonstrated that eliciting disclosure using autonomy supportive strategies rather than controlling strategies resulted in greater and more personal content in partner disclosure. The results are discussed with reference to couples’ interventions and the potential of autonomy supportive strategies to improve the quality of couples’ communication and relationship quality.