TY - JOUR
T1 - Romantic relationships and health
T2 - An examination of individuals' perceptions of their romantic partners' influences on their health
AU - Markey, Charlotte N.
AU - Markey, Patrick M.
AU - Gray, Heather Fishman
N1 - Funding Information:
The research described in this report was supported by an award to Charlotte Markey from Rutgers University. C.N.Markey(*) . H. F. Gray Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, 311 North 5th Street, Camden, NJ 08102, USA e-mail: chmarkey@camden.rutgers.edu
PY - 2007/9
Y1 - 2007/9
N2 - This study examines individuals' perceptions of the impact their significant others have on their health and the extent to which these perceptions are associated with relationship quality and actual health. Two-hundred and ten participants (105 U.S. couples; mean age∈=∈24.93) completed measures of their relationship quality and health along with an open-ended measure asking them to indicate how they felt their partner influenced their health. Results indicated that participants perceived their romantic partners to be primarily positive health influences, women believed their partners were more influential than did men, and eating and physical activity behaviors were believed to be most affected by partners. Participants' relationship quality and health were associated with their reports of their perceived partners' health influences.
AB - This study examines individuals' perceptions of the impact their significant others have on their health and the extent to which these perceptions are associated with relationship quality and actual health. Two-hundred and ten participants (105 U.S. couples; mean age∈=∈24.93) completed measures of their relationship quality and health along with an open-ended measure asking them to indicate how they felt their partner influenced their health. Results indicated that participants perceived their romantic partners to be primarily positive health influences, women believed their partners were more influential than did men, and eating and physical activity behaviors were believed to be most affected by partners. Participants' relationship quality and health were associated with their reports of their perceived partners' health influences.
KW - Gender differences
KW - Health
KW - Romantic relationships
KW - Social influences on health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34548259516&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=34548259516&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11199-007-9266-5
DO - 10.1007/s11199-007-9266-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:34548259516
VL - 57
SP - 435
EP - 445
JO - Sex Roles: A Journal of Research
JF - Sex Roles: A Journal of Research
SN - 0360-0025
IS - 5-6
ER -