Dr Paula R. Pietromonaco, PhD
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My research examines interpersonal dynamics in close relationships. Close relationships, including marital relationships, have been consistently linked to health and well-being over the life course, but much needs to be known about precisely how relationships promote or hinder health. A primary goal of my work is to understand the processes through which interactions in marital relationships shape each partner's emotional and physical health. My work examines multiple processes that may contribute to downstream health outcomes, including physiological and behavioral responses as well as subjective perceptions. We typically examine these responses as they arise during couples’ interactions when they are trying to resolve important areas of conflict or disagreement. My work also investigates how individual differences (e.g., in attachment security/insecurity, childhood adversity, depression) modulate each partner’s responses during couple interactions, and how situational variables (e.g., differences in power or culture) influence couples’ communication patterns, behavior, and relationship quality over time.
Primary Interests:
- Close Relationships
- Emotion, Mood, Affect
- Gender Psychology
- Health Psychology
- Interpersonal Processes
- Personality, Individual Differences
- Social Cognition
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Close Relationship Processes and Health
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Journal Articles:
- Barrett, L. F., & Pietromonaco, P. R. (1997). Accuracy of the Five-Factor Model in predicting perceptions of daily social interactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 1173-1187.
- Barrett, L. F., Robin, L., Pietromonaco, P. R., & Eyssell, K. (1998). Are women the "more emotional" sex? Evidence from emotional experiences in social context. Cognition and Emotion, 12, 555-578.
- Beck, L. A., Pietromonaco, P. R., DeBuse, C. J., Powers, S. I. & Sayer, A. (2013). Spouses’ attachment pairings predict neuroendocrine, behavioral, and psychological responses to marital conflict. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105 (3), 388-424.
- Beck, L. A., Pietromonaco, P. R., DeVito, C., Powers, S. I., & Boyle, A. (2014). Congruence between spouses’ perceptions and observers’ ratings of responsiveness: The role of attachment avoidance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40, 164-174.
- Carnelley, K. B., Pietromonaco, P. R., & Jaffe, K. (1996). Attachment, caregiving, and relationship functioning in couples: Effects of self and partner. Personal Relationships, 3, 257-278.
- Carnelley, K. B., Pietromonaco, P. R., & Jaffe, K. (1994). Depression, working models of others, and relationship functioning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 127-140.
- Fishtein, J., Pietromonaco, P. R., & Barrett, L. F. (1999). The contribution of attachment style and relationship conflict to the complexity of relationship knowledge. Social Cognition, 17, 228-244.
- Ge, F., Pietromonaco, P. R., DeBuse, C. J., Powers, S. I, & Granger, D. A. (2016). Concurrent and prospective associations between HPA axis activity and depression symptoms in newlywed women. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 73, 125-132.
- Kent de Grey, R. G., Uchino, B. N., Pietromonaco, P. R., Hogan, J., Smith, T. W., Cronan, S., & Trettevik, R. (2018). Strained bedfellows: An actor-partner analysis of spousal attachment insecurity and sleep quality. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 53(2), 15-125. https://doi.org: 10.1093/abm/kay037
- Laurenceau, J., Barrett, L. F., & Pietromonaco, P. R. (1998). Intimacy as an interpersonal process: The importance of self-disclosure, partner disclosure, and perceived partner responsiveness in interpersonal exchanges. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1238-1251.
- Laws, H., Sayer, A., Pietromonaco, P. R., & Powers, S. I. (2015). Longitudinal changes in spouses’ HPA responses: Convergence in cortisol patterns during the early years of marriage. Health Psychology, 34 (11), 1076-1089.
- Pietromonaco, P. R., & Barrett, L. F. (2009). Valence focus and self-esteem lability: Perceiving and reacting to valenced cues in the social environment. Emotion, 9, 406-418.
- Pietromonaco, P. R., & Barrett, L. F. (2006). What can you do for me? Attachment style and motives underlying esteem for partners. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 313-338.
- Pietromonaco, P. R., & Barrett, L. F. (2000). The internal working models concept: What do we really know about the self in relation to others? Review of General Psychology, 4, 155-175.
- Pietromonaco, P. R., & Barrett, L. F. (1997). Working models of attachment and daily social interactions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1409-1423.
- Pietromonaco, P. R., & Collins, N. L. (2017). Interpersonal mechanisms linking close relationships to health. American Psychologist, 72, 531-542.
- Pietromonaco, P. R., DeBuse, C. J., & Powers, S. I. (2013). Does attachment get under the skin? Adult romantic attachment and cortisol responses to stress. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22, 63-68.
- Pietromonaco, P. R., & Overall, N. C. (2020). Applying relationship science to evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic may impact couples’ relationships. American Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000714
- Pietromonaco, P. R., Overall, N. C., Beck, L. A., & Powers, S. I. (2020). Is low power associated with submission during marital conflict? Moderating roles of gender and traditional gender role beliefs. Social Psychological and Personality Science.
- Pietromonaco, P. R., Rook, K. S., & Lewis, M. (1992). Accuracy in perceptions of interpersonal interactions: Effects of dysphoria, friendship, and similarity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 247-259.
- Pietromonaco, P. R., Uchino, B., & Dunkel Schetter, C. (2013). Close relationship processes and health: Implications of attachment theory for health and disease. Health Psychology, 32(5), 499-513.
- Powers, S., Pietromonaco, P. R., Gunlicks, M., & Sayer, A. (2006). Dating couples’ attachment styles and patterns of cortisol reactivity and recovery in response to a relationship conflict. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 613-628.
- Winer, J. P., Powers, S. I., & Pietromonaco, P. R. (2017). Early pubertal timing and childhood family adversity interact to predict newlywed women’s anxiety symptoms. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26, 591–602.
- Winer, J. P., Powers, S.I, & Pietromonaco, P. R., & Schreck, M. C. (2018). Childhood family adversity and adult cortisol response: The role of observed marital conflict behavior. Journal of Family Psychology, 32, 793-803.
Other Publications:
Courses Taught:
- Close Relationships (Graduate)
- Close Relationships (Undergraduate)
- Honors Social Psychology (Undergraduate)
- Personality (Graduate)
- Research Methods (Graduate)
- Social Psychology (Graduate)
- Social Psychology (Undergraduate)
Dr Paula R. Pietromonaco, PhD
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Tobin Hall, 135 Hicks Way
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-9271
United States of America