Broadly, my research interests relate the development and maintenance of intimate relationships.  I am particularly interested in how couples interact with each other and how individuals and relationships benefit from healthy interpersonal dynamics.

One area of specific interest to me is how people celebrate good news and personal successes with close others, a process referred to as capitalization.  Although researchers have tended to focus on the benefits of turning to others in the face of adversity, telling others about one’s good fortune is also associated with greater life satisfaction and positive emotions (Langston, 1994; Gable et al., 2004).  Further, perceiving romantic partners as responding to one’s good news with genuine interest and enthusiasm predicts greater relationship quality (Gable et al., 2004).

Given the importance of positive partner perceptions for individuals and their relationships, I questioned whether personal characteristics might predict the tendency to engage in capitalization and to view partners as responding positively.  Specifically, in my previous research, I explored links between attachment security (i.e., attachment anxiety and avoidance) and the capitalization and support processes (Logan & Cobb, 2005; 2006).  More recently, I examined how individuals’ experiences of chronic stress interact with attachment anxiety to predict perceptions of partner responsiveness during capitalization interactions (Logan et al., 2011).