One possibility is that socially anxious people may be less responsive to received capitalization support.
However, an unexpected finding emerged where the partners of people with greater social anxiety felt an abundance of received capitalization support following a laboratory interaction.
Similarly, partners of people with greater social anxiety reported greater declines in relationship commitment when they believed they were not receiving capitalization support (−1 SD from the mean), β = −.49, t = −3.04, p = .003; when people believed they were receiving capitalization support (+1 SD from the mean), there was no social anxiety effect, p > .10.10
As shown in Fig. 1, partners of people with greater social anxiety reported greater declines in relationship satisfaction when they believed they were not receiving capitalization support (−1 SD from the mean), β = −.54, t = −2.71, p = .007; when people believed they were receiving capitalization support (+1 SD from the mean), there was no social anxiety effect, p > .10.10
In contrast, partners of people with greater social anxiety felt an abundance of received capitalization support following a laboratory interaction, suggesting an asymmetry in how socially anxious partners behave or are perceived.
Similarly, when the benefits of being in a romantic relationship with a socially anxious person were minimal, in terms of received capitalization support, partners experienced reductions in satisfaction and commitment over a 6-month period.
This suggests that in predicting relationship maintenance, the combination of being in a romantic relationship with a socially anxious person was insufficient to predict relationship longevity; break-ups only occurred when partners failed to receive adequate capitalization support.
Facial expressions were also happier for people receiving supportive capitalization responses.
Results suggest the importance of addressing the giving and receiving of capitalization support within the same social situation.
Relationship break-ups were more likely when individuals felt they were receiving inadequate capitalization support from a socially anxious partner (i.e., moderation model).
