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Partner effects in relationship research: Conceptual issues, analytic difficulties, and illustrations
Author(s) -
KENNY DAVID A.,
COOK WILLIAM
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.81
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1475-6811
pISSN - 1350-4126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6811.1999.tb00202.x
Subject(s) - moderation , psychology , similarity (geometry) , social psychology , meaning (existential) , conceptual model , partner effects , epistemology , computer science , artificial intelligence , psychotherapist , philosophy , image (mathematics)
This article discusses the conceptual meaning of partner effects, which occur when one person is affected by the behavior or characteristics of his or her partner. We show that partner effects can be used to validate the presence of a relationship and can elaborate the particular nature of that relationship. We discuss possible moderation of partner effects and show that many theoretical variables in relationship research (e.g., similarity) can be viewed as the interactions of partner effects with other variables. We present three extended examples that illustrate the importance of partner effects.