Primary Interests:
- Close Relationships
- Emotion, Mood, Affect
- Interpersonal Processes
- Personality, Individual Differences
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Margaret Clark
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My research interests fall in the areas of close relationships, emotion, and the intersection of those two areas.
I've long been interested in the normative nature of interpersonal processes as they occur within family relationships, friendships, and romantic relationships. Much of my early work was devoted to demonstrating that the norms governing the giving and receiving of benefits in such close relationships are distinct from those which govern the giving and receiving of benefits in other relationships. In particular, I proposed that it is normative (and beneficial) for people to give benefits, non-contingently, in response to a partner's needs, if and when such needs arise whereas in other relationships benefits are given contingently. Studies demonstrated that in relationships desired to be formal and not communal (but not in relationships in which closeness is desired), people react positively to being repaid for favors and to receiving requests for repayment (Clark & Mills, 1979), keep track of inputs into the relationship (Clark, 1984; Clark, Mills, & Corcoran, 1989), and prefer giving and receiving comparable to non-comparable benefits (Clark, 1981). In contrast, in communal (but not other relationships) needs are tracked (Clark, Mills, & Powell, 1986; Clark et al. 1989), help is given (Clark, Ouellette, Powell & Milberg,, 1987), emotional expression is welcomed and responded to positively (Clark et al., 1987; Clark & Taraban, 1991) and giving help boosts one's mood (Williamson & Clark, 1989; 1992).
More recently, I've observed people's ability to adhere to communal norms within ongoing, intimate, relationships -- most often marriages. People do, overwhelmingly, follow communal norms in these relationships and they and their partners feel best when they do so. I've also observed that expressing emotion, which conveys need states, is welcome in such relationships and valued and that it carries with it a host of benefits (Clark & Finkel, 2004). People who are low in trust of others, however, do have difficulty adhering to communal norms in the face of adversity and show some tendency to switch to exchange norms under such conditions.
Finally, I would note that my current interests include a focus on the nature and function of the interpersonal emotions of hurt, guilt, and gratitude within close relationships. Current research is demonstrating the value of feeling and expressing hurt and guilt to perserving communal relationships and the value of feeling and expressing gratitude to building and strengthening communal relationships.
Journal Articles:
- Clark, M. S. (2002). We should focus on interpersonal as well as intrapersonal processes in our search for how affect influences judgments and behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 13, 32-36.
- Clark, M. S., & Finkel, E. J. (2005). Willingness to express emotion: The impact of relationship type, communal orientation, and their interaction. Personal Relationships, 12, 169-180.
- Grote, N., & Clark, M. S. (2004). Perceptions of injustice in family work: The role of psychological distress. Journal of Family Psychology.
- Grote, N., & Clark, M. S. (2001). Does conflict drive perceptions of unfairness or do perceptions of unfairness drive conflict? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(2), 281-293. Erratum, JPSP 2001, 80(3), 362.
- Grote, N. K., Naylor, C., & Clark, M. S. (2002). Social comparisons, enjoyment and own and spouse perceived competence drive perceptions of fairness in marriage. Journal of Family Psychology.
- Mills, J., Clark, M. S., Ford, T., & Johnson, M. (2004). Measuring communal strength. Personal Relationships, 11, 213-230.
- Pataki, S. P., & Clark, M. S. (2004). Self presentations of happiness: Sincere, polite, or cautious? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 905-914.
Other Publications:
- Clark, M. S., & Finkel, E. J. (2004). The benefits of selective expression of emotion within communal relationships. In L. Tiedens and C. W. Leach (Eds.), The social life of emotions, Cambridge University Press: England.
- Clark, M. S., & Fitness, J., & Brissette, I. (2001). Understanding people’s perceptions of relationships is crucial to understanding their emotional lives. (pp. 253-278) In G. Fletcher, & M. S. Clark, (Eds.), Interpersonal Processes. Volume 3 of the Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology. Blackwell.
- Clark, M. S., Graham, S., & Grote, N. (2002). Bases for giving benefits in marriage: What is ideal? What is realistic? What really happens? In P. Noller & J. Feeney (Eds.), Understanding marriage: Developments in the study of couple interaction (pp. 150-176). Oxford, England: Cambridge University Press.
- Clark, M. S., & Mills, J. (2001). Behaving in such a way as to maintain and enhance relationship satisfaction. In J. H. Harvey & A. E. Wenzel (Eds.), Relationship maintenance and enhancement (pp. 13-26). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
- Reis, H., Clark, M. S., & Holmes, J. (2004). Perceived partner responsiveness as an organizing construct in the study of intimacy and closeness. In D. Mashek & A. Aron (Eds.), The handbook of closeness and intimacy (pp. 201-225). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Margaret Clark
Department of Psychology
Yale University
New Haven, CT 06520
United States
Phone: (203) 432-4500