Now and then, them and us, this and that: Studying relationships across time, partner, context, and person

doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.1999.tb00201.x

If you are seeing this message, you may be experiencing temporary network problems. Please wait a few minutes and refresh the page. If the problem persists, you may wish to report it to your local Network Manager.

It is also possible that your web browser is not configured or not able to display style sheets. In this case, although the visual presentation will be degraded, the site should continue to be functional. We recommend using the latest version of Microsoft or Mozilla web browser to help minimise these problems.

Wiley InterScience

Personal Relationships

Volume 6 Issue 4, Pages 415 - 432

Published Online: 20 May 2005

Published on behalf of the International Association for Relationship Research

Go to Society Site

< Previous Abstract | Next Abstract >

Save Article to My Profile Download Citation Request Permissions

Abstract | References | Full Text: PDF (Size: 1558K) | Related Articles | Citation Tracking

Now and then, them and us, this and that: Studying relationships across time, partner, context, and person

SHELLY L. GABLE ¹ HARRY T. REIS ¹

¹ University of Rochester

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Shelly Gable, Department of Clinical & Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627. E-mail: gable@psych.roch-ester.edu

This work was supported by National Institutes of Mental Health Fellowship MHJ11766 awarded to the first author and by assistance from the Psychology Department, University of California at Santa Barbara.

ABSTRACT

Personal relationships are frequently studied using methods and analyses that reflect an interest in relationships as between-persons phenomena. Although informative, there is much to be learned from examining relational phenomena from a within-persons perspective. The present article reviews the application of within-persons approaches to both the conceptualization and investigation of relational phenomena. The benefits of studying variation in psychologically meaningful constructs across multiple relationships, across different contexts within a relationship, and across time are outlined. Moreover, combinations of between- and within-persons strategies that can examine how relational, contextual, and temporal variation differs across people are discussed. Methodological and statistical considerations important to such designs are also outlined, and their limitations are discussed.