Health-related Social Control in Close Relationships

Project Overview

Close relationships feature a number of social exchange dynamics relevant to partners’ health. In addition to supportive interactions to aid the pursuit of health goals or recovery from health problems, partners may also intentionally influence each other’s health-related behavior (Craddock et al., 2015; Lewis & Rook, 1999; Tucker & Mueller, 2000; Umberson, 1987). In doing so, they may use a number of social control tactics (e.g., Butterfield & Lewis, 2002; Huelsnitz et al., 2022).


Social control tactics include strategies to influence one’s partner’s health behavior such as persuasion, reasoning, reminding, and bargaining or pressuring, holding out the prospect of negative consequences, nagging, and making the other feel guilty (e.g., Butterfield & Lewis, 2002; Dailey et al., Tucker & Mueller, 2000).


Compared to other social exchange processes, most prominently social support, the exchange of social control in close relationships has received somewhat less attention in the literature so far, although researchers from several disciplines (e.g., sociology, psychology, communication studies) and subdisciplines (relationship research, health psychology, psychology of aging) are working on the subject.


To date, there are many different social control definitions, theories, measurement approaches, and classifications of social control tactics (e.g., August et al., 2020; Craddock et al., 2015; Hughes & Gove, 1981; Lewis & Rook, 1999; Okun et al., 2007; Rook et al., 1990; Scholz et al., 2021). While these exemplify the multi-faceted nature of social control, there are also some issues attached which may challenge the uptake of research into social control and its health- and relationship-relevant correlates.


Some of these issues have to do with the definition of the construct itself and its boundaries or intersections with other social exchange strategies, which further challenges operational definitions. In this project, we set out to identify these issues and develop solutions for navigating them. In doing so, we place specific emphasis on health-related social control in close relationships.

References

August, K. J., Franks, M. M., Rook, K. S., & Stephens, M. A. P. (2020). Spouses’ responses to the dietary nonadherence of their partners managing diabetes. Personal Relationships, 27(2), 401–419. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12320

Butterfield, R. M., & Lewis, M. A. (2002). Health-related social influence: A social ecological perspective on tactic use. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 19(4), 505–526. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407502019004050

Craddock, E., vanDellen, M. R., Novak, S. A., & Ranby, K. W. (2015). Influence in relationships: A meta-analysis on health-related social control. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 37(2), 118-130. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2015.1011271

Dailey, R. M., McCracken, A. A., & Romo, L. K. (2011). Confirmation and weight management: Predicting effective levels of acceptance and challenge in weight management messages. Communication Monographs, 78(2), 185-211. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2011.564638

Huelsnitz, C. O., Rothman, A. J., & Simpson, J. A. (2022). Effects of social control on eating and relational behaviors in romantic relationships. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 56(12), 1244-1258. https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaac011

Hughes, M., & Gove, W. R. (1981). Living alone, social integration, and mental health. American Journal of Sociology, 87(1), 48–74. https://doi.org/10.1086/227419

Lewis, M. & Rook, K. S. (1999). Social control in personal relationships: Impact on health behaviors and psychological distress. Health Psychology, 18(1), 63-71. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.18.1.63

Okun, M. A., Huff, B. P., August, K. J., & Rook, K. S. (2007). Testing hypotheses distilled from four models of the effects of health-related social control. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 29(2), 185-193. https://doi.org/10.1080=01973530701332245

Rook, K. S., Thuras, P. D., & Lewis, M. A. (1990). Social control, health risk taking, and psychological distress among the elderly. Psychology and Aging, 5(3), 327–334. https://doi.org/10.1037//0882-7974.5.3.327

Scholz, U., Stadler, G., Berli, C., Lüscher, J., & Knoll, N. (2021). How do people experience and respond to social control from their partner? Three daily diary studies. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 3893. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.613546

Tucker, J. S., & Mueller, J. S. (2000). Spouses’ social control of health behaviors: Use and effectiveness of specific strategies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(9), 1120-1130. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672002611008

Umberson, D. (1987). Family status and health behaviors: Social control as a dimension of social integration. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 28(3), 306–319. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136848

Facilitators

Nina Knoll

Professor of Health Psychology

Chloe Huelsnitz

Ph.D., Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS)

Lea O. Wilhelm

MSc, Research Associate (Third-party fund) workHealth

Jeffry Simpson

Professor in the Department of Psychology, Director Social Interactions Lab

Urte Scholz

Prof., Head of Applied Social and Health Psychology

Janina Lüscher

Ph.D, Group Leader "Psychosocial Dynamics & Health"

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