Perceptions and experiences of gaining and maintaining power in romantic relationships: exploring Lay theories of power

Guided by empirical work on coercive and collaborative lay theories of power, this qualitative study explored perceptions and experiences of power acquisition and maintenance in romantic relationships. Utilising data from 15 semi-structured interviews, we generated four themes using reflexive thematic analysis. Two themes related to the coercive theory of power: (1) patriarchal culture automatically affords men more power, (2) the practice of coercion. Two themes corresponded with the collaborative theory of power: (1) power balance is desired and beneficial, (2) emotional responsiveness and awareness. While most participants articulated features of both coercive and collaborative theories of power, the emergence of either was largely dependent on the context in which power was discussed. Our findings indicate potential gender differences. While both men and women were described as capable of using coercive tactics to acquire relationship power, men were articulated to adopt overt strategies, whereas women were highlighted to employ furtive tactics. Women additionally described how culture is functionally coercive insofar as it is structured to afford men greater power in romantic relationships. Collectively, our results provide preliminary support for extending lay theories of power into the context of romantic relationships whilst highlighting the complexities in how they emerge and are discussed.