Lightening the load: Perceived partner responsiveness fosters more positive appraisals of relational sacrifices.

Romantic partners regularly sacrifice their own self-interest when partners' needs and preferences diverge.The present work examines the role of perceived partner responsiveness (PPR)-impressions that one's partner is understanding, caring, and validating-in positively shaping people's appraisals of their relational sacrifices.In Study 1, a preregistered experiment of romantically involved individuals (N = 548), we manipulated PPR (high, low, or control) in a hypothetical sacrifice scenario.In Study 2, we tracked romantic couples' (N = 126) in-lab conversations about a sacrifice (Study 2a), and their sacrifices in daily life (Study 2b).In Study 3, romantic couples (N = 111) engaged in lab conversations about a sacrifice that entailed making a change that one partner desired from the other, and reported on their progress 2 weeks later.In Study 4, we surveyed romantically involved individuals (N = 230) who recently made a life-changing sacrifice by relocating to a new city or country to support their partner's career.Across studies, results showed that higher PPR fostered more positive sacrifice appraisals (i.e., lower costs and viewing the act as less of a sacrifice, greater satisfaction, greater personal and relational benefits, lower regret) and greater sacrifice behavior (Study 3)-in part due to greater closeness with and lower negative affect toward the partner.Additionally, Study 4 suggested that PPR partly originated from the partner's efforts to fulfill fundamental psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, relatedness).Thus, PPR can play a critical role in lightening the load of daily and even life-changing sacrifices.