My research focuses on two distinct but related areas -- the nature and
development of affectional bonds and the nature and development of
same-sex sexuality. The common thread uniting these lines of research
is my interest in the psychological and biobehavioral processes underlying
intimate relationships and their influence on emotional experience
and functioning over the life course.
My primary research questions are as follows: (1) what are the basic
psychological and biobehavioral processes underlying the formation
and functioning of affectional bonds; (2) how are these processes
related to sexual desire and sexual orientation; (3) what are the
implications of affectional bonding for mental and physical well-being
at different stages of life? In addressing these questions, I use
a diverse range of research methods, including in-depth qualitative
interviews, controlled social-psychophysiological experiments, and
assessment of naturalistic interpersonal behavior.
One of my current projects is an investigation of day-to-day emotional
and physiological regulation within long-term romantic couples. Research
on adult attachment bonds suggests that romantic partners are uniquely
able to modulate one another's emotions and physiological states.
My research seeks to clarify this phenomenon by studying how physical
separations between romantic partners (such as those encountered when
one partner goes out-of-town) influence partners' day-to-day emotions,
stress reactivity, and the nature and degree of emotional “coupling”
between partners. This study also investigates whether such separations
influence day-to-day HPA axis activity, and whether separation effects
are moderated by individual differences in attachment style.
Another project focuses on emotion regulation in adolescent relationships.
Specifically, it uses daily diaries and laboratory observations to
examine how the experience, expression, and reciprocation of positive
affect between adolescents and their parents promotes youth’s
mental and physical well-being, coping abilities, friendships, and
dating relationships over a 5-year period. This project will also
examine whether these effects are moderated by biologically-based
individual differences in emotion regulation, specifically parasympathetic
nervous system functioning and HPA activity.
I also conduct longitudinal research of female sexual identity development.
The chief aim of this project is to describe and explain patterns
of change and stability in the sexual attractions, behaviors, and
identities of 89 young sexual-minority (i.e., nonheterosexual) women,
all of whom were first interviewed in 1994 when they were between
16 and 23 years of age. This project focuses on elucidating the individual
and environmental factors (from family environment to specific relationship
participation) that are associated with change in young women's experiences
of same-sex and other-sex sexual and emotional relationships.
|
