We tested hypotheses concerning the developmental roots of becoming the “weak-link” (less committed) partner in adult romantic relationships, and the associations between partners’ absolute and relative levels of commitment and dyadic outcomes. We examined 78 target participants who have been studied since birth and were involved in a romantic relationship when they were 20–21 years old. As predicted, people who received lower quality support from caregivers in toddlerhood or were unable to resolve conflicts with a best friend in mid-adolescence were more likely to become the weak-link (less committed) partner in their adult romantic relationships at age 20–21. Furthermore, the lower the weak-link partner was in commitment and the greater the discrepancy in commitment between the partners, the greater the likelihood that romantic couples displayed hostility (rated by observers) during a videotaped conflict resolution task when they were 20–21 years old. These findings are discussed from developmental and dyadic perspectives.
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