“I'm so excited for you!” How an enthusiastic responding intervention enhances close relationships

JOURNAL:  Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
AUTHORS:  Sarah Woods, Nathaniel Lambert, Preston Brown, Frank Fincham & Ross May

SUMMARY:  The positive impact of active–constructive responding (i.e., showing enthusiasm) to the sharing of good news (i.e., capitalization attempts) on relationship well-being is well documented. The objective of this research was to determine whether individuals in a close relationship benefit from training to increase active–constructive responding to partner capitalization attempts and to document its impact on relationship well-being. Compared with a joint activity control group, individuals who received training in providing active–constructive responses perceived a greater amount of gratitude from their study partner and perceived their study partner as having greater relationship satisfaction; however, there were no significant differences in reported relationship satisfaction or gratitude expression. Gratitude receipt from a study partner mediated the relationship between experimental condition and perceived study partner relationship satisfaction.

CULTURAL REFERENCE: "I'm So Excited" is a song performed by American recording artists The Pointer Sisters. Jointly written and composed by The Pointer Sisters in collaboration with Trevor Lawrence, it was originally released in 1982 and saw a re-release in 1984. It is considered to be the group's signature song.

Scientific paper

Song