A Pronoun Analysis of Couples' Support Transactions

Front Psychol. 2016 Feb 2:7:77. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00077. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

The present study collected data about couples' level of relationship quality and their usage of pronouns that express we-ness or separateness in the context of support interactions. The sample consisted of 48 couples in a long-term relationship who provided questionnaire data and participated in two videotaped social support interaction tasks. Couples' videotaped interactions were subsequently coded for the number of personal pronouns-we-words (e.g., we, ours, ourselves) versus you and me-words (e.g., me, mine, you, yours)-used by both partners.

Keywords: close relationships; pronoun analyses; relationship satisfaction; support interactions; we-ness.