Enjoying the sweet moments: Does approach motivation upwardly enhance reactivity to positive interpersonal processes?

In intimate relationships, greater social approach motivation is associated with a host of personal and relational benefits. Why is this the case? Although previous research suggests approach motivation primarily influences relational outcomes via increased exposure to positive relational events, in this research, based on approach-avoidance motivational theory, we revive the upward reactivity hypothesis, which suggests approach motivation upwardly enhances people's affective and relational experiences in response to positive social events. Specifically, we hypothesized that people with greater social approach motivation would react more positively to positively valenced interactions with their partner, and that this would occur even when accounting for their global levels of key outcomes. We tested these ideas across three studies. In all three studies, couples first reported their approach motivation toward the relationship, then engaged in a gratitude interaction. In Study 3, participants additionally engaged in a capitalization interaction, and provided nightly reports of positive relational events across the course of 14 days. We found robust support for the upward reactivity hypothesis: In lab-based interactions and in daily life, individuals with greater approach motivation reported enhanced outcomes in response to positive social events. We also found support for upward observability: When individuals were high in approach motivation, their partners observed them as experiencing greater positive emotion during the laboratory interactions. Moreover, we found evidence for upward crossover, as the upward reactivity experienced by people with greater approach motivation indirectly predicted enhanced partner outcomes. These results provide suggestive evidence that approach motivation can make already good relational moments extra sweet. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).