Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
0146167208323743v1
34/12/1639    most recent
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Goodfriend, W.
Right arrow Articles by Agnew, C. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Goodfriend, W.
Right arrow Articles by Agnew, C. R.
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
Medline Plus Health Information
*Family Issues
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Sunken Costs and Desired Plans: Examining Different Types of Investments in Close Relationships

Wind Goodfriend

Buena Vista University

Christopher R. Agnew

Purdue University, agnew{at}purdue.edu

Although the concept of investments in romantic relationships has featured prominently in close relationships research, there have been no empirical analyses of different types of investments and their possible differential predictive power regarding relationship state or fate. With data from five independent samples, the authors offer and examine investments that differ in terms of their timing (past vs. planned) and materiality (tangible vs. intangible). Cross-sectional and longitudinal tests of hypotheses regarding these investment types provide evidence for the utility of considering specific types of investments in predicting a variety of important relationship factors, including commitment, stability, and the impact of breakup on relationship partners. Intangible investments and planned investments were found to be particularly robust predictors of key relational states and outcomes.

Key Words: investments • commitment • relationship stability • close relationships

This version was published on December 1, 2008

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 34, No. 12, 1639-1652 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167208323743
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Pers Soc Psychol BullHome page
L. E. VanderDrift, C. R. Agnew, and J. E. Wilson
Nonmarital Romantic Relationship Commitment and Leave Behavior: The Mediating Role of Dissolution Consideration
Pers Soc Psychol Bull, September 1, 2009; 35(9): 1220 - 1232.
[Abstract] [PDF]