Half Empty and Half Full? Biased Perceptions of Compassionate Love and Effects of Dyadic Complementarity

Abstract

The prevailing theory on relationship judgments for interaction attributes suggests individuals tend to underestimate a romantic partner’s expressions of compassionate love and that such underestimation is beneficial for the relationship. Yet, limited research has incorporated dyadic perspectives to assess how biased perceptions are associated with both partners’ outcomes. In two daily studies of couples, we used distinct analytical approaches (Truth and Bias Model; Dyadic Response Surface Analysis) to inform perspectives on how biased perceptions are interrelated and predict relationship satisfaction. Consistent with prior research, people demonstrated an underestimation bias. However, there were differential effects of biased perceptions for actors versus partners: Underestimation predicted lower actor satisfaction but generally higher satisfaction for partners. Furthermore, we find evidence for complementarity effects: partners’ directional biases were inversely related, and couples were more satisfied when partners had opposing patterns of directional bias. Findings help integrate theoretical perspectives on the adaptive role of biased relationship perceptions.