Speech is Silver, Nonverbal Behavior is Gold: How Implicit Partner Evaluations Affect Dyadic Interactions in Close Relationships

Growing evidence suggests that the seeds of relationship decay can be detected via implicit partner evaluations, even when explicit evaluations fail to do so. However, little is known about the concrete daily relational processes that explain why these gut-feelings are such important determinants of relationships’ long-term outcomes. For the first time, this integrative multi-method research shows that participants with more positive implicit partner evaluations exhibited more constructive nonverbal (but not verbal) behavior toward their partner in a videotaped dyadic interaction. In turn, this behavior was associated with greater satisfaction with the conversation and with the relationship in the following 8-day Diary. These findings represent a significant step forward in understanding the crucial role of automatic processes in romantic relationships. Together, they provide novel evidence that relationship success appears highly dependent on how people spontaneously behave in their relationship, which may be ultimately rooted in their implicit partner evaluations.

***FORTHCOMING PUBLICATION: The associated paper to this dataset will be published soon.***