Partner attitude certainty and implications for relationship satisfaction, mental health, and longitudinal stability

The quality of a close relationship is characterized, in part, by the degree of positive regard each person has for the other. However, although two people may like their respective partners just as much as one another, they may nevertheless differ in how durable and influential those feelings are. We integrate the rich literature on attitude strength into research on partner attitudes in romantic relationships. Strong attitudes are defined as those resisting change and having influence over people’s thoughts and behaviors. Attitude certainty has emerged as an especially reliable predictor of strength. We therefore examine how much people’s certainty in their attitudes toward their partner moderates those attitudes’ correspondence with relational and personal variables. Data from an online survey show that people report greater relationship satisfaction when they hold more positive attitudes toward their partner, and this correlation is significantly magnified when those attitudes are held with greater certainty. Moreover, this interaction on relationship satisfaction carries further implications for assessments of participants’ subjective well-being and mental health. Together, these data highlight the importance of considering the metacognitive aspects of relationship partners’ thoughts and feelings about one another.