People low in self-esteem store their partner's positive and negative traits in functionally different memory categories. However, people with high self-esteem integrate positive and negative information into one cohesive picture, creating a more positive overall image of their partner, according to an article in the April issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 90, No. 4).

In the study, the researchers had 70 undergraduates complete a self-esteem questionnaire. Students then watched a computer screen flash positive or negative personality traits. The participants pressed one of two keys as quickly as possible to indicate whether the trait words applied to their roommate. They then repeated the task to indicate whether the words applied to their computer.

When researchers asked the participants to make alternating positive and negative judgments about people, those low in self-esteem slowed down making their judgments, suggesting that they store their positive and negative judgments in separate areas of their memory. However, there was no change in speed when they rated their computer's qualities. The alternating traits had no effect on the judgment speed of participants high in self-esteem, suggesting that those participants almost always functionally integrate both positive and negative information in a single area in their memory, regardless of whether they are judging people or inanimate objects.

The findings may have important clinical implications in that clinicians could simultaneously work with clients on boosting their self-esteem and balancing their perceptions of their partners.

Attachment style can predict a person's physical stress response to conflict with a romantic partner, but the specific vulnerable attachment styles are different in men and in women, according to an April study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 90, No. 4).

The study involved 124 couples between the ages of 18 and 21 who had been together for at least two months. Participants' self-reported avoidance of intimacy and dependence on their romantic partner, and anxiety about rejection and abandonment were assessed.

After filling out the questionnaires, couples spent 15 minutes discussing an issue that caused heated and unresolved discussions in the past month. The researchers collected seven cortisol samples assessing physiological stress in anticipation of the conflict, throughout the conflict and during a 40-minute recovery period.

The researchers found that although both men and women have a physiological response to relationship conflict, the response is much more pronounced in men than in women and involves different attachment factors. Anxiety was a strong predictor for response in men, but in women, only highly avoidant types showed significant cortisol changes.

The researchers surmise that in a relationship, women are often expected to initiate and guide conflict discussions. For avoidant women, who prefer to distance themselves in conflict situations, the study's task may be particularly difficult. Indeed, avoidant women in the study showed high reactivity before and during the conflict, but recovered rapidly after leaving the discussion. For these women, avoiding sustained conflict appears to be physiologically rewarding.

Men, on the other hand, are often expected to be more passive participants, so although they may want to resolve issues, anxious men may feel particularly uncomfortable actively confronting relationship conflicts.