The association of relational uncertainty with relationship satisfaction and perceived partner responsiveness: A cross-sectional and a daily diary study

Feeling uncertain about the relationship, and about the commitment of the self or the partner to the relationship is challenging in a romantic relationship. In a cross-sectional (Study 1; N = 1368) and a dyadic daily dairy (Study 2; N = 738) study, this thesis investigated the association between relational uncertainty and relationship quality. Furthermore, it also explored if individuals' political orientations and their socioeconomic status was related to these associations. The results in both Study 1 and Study 2 showed that higher relational uncertainty was associated with lower relationship satisfaction and perceived partner responsiveness. However, daily variations in relational uncertainty were negatively associated with daily changes in relationship satisfaction and perceived partner responsiveness only for the male partners, but not for the females (Study 2). Our exploratory analyses revealed that the association of relational uncertainty with relationship satisfaction and perceived partner responsiveness was similar for individuals with different political orientations (Study 1 & 2). However, we found a small effect for that higher socioeconomic status is related to lower relational uncertainty, which is also negatively related to relationship satisfaction and perceived partner responsiveness (Study 1). In two studies we showed robust evidence for the importance of relational uncertainty in relationship quality. Furthermore, the nature of Study 2, modeling daily changes within the person and within the dyads, enabled us to discuss the tested associations in a causal way. Keywords: relational uncertainty, relationship satisfaction, perceived partner responsiveness, dyadic diary study