Prescriptive support and commitment processes in close relationships

Existing research on close relationships has not determined whether commitment is strengthened by prescriptive support for a relationship. The present research examines both (1) personal prescription, based on the personal belief that out to persist in a relationship, and (2) social prescription, based on the that friends or family members would like one to persist. In a computer-assisted telephone interview we examined associations of commitment with both forms of prescriptive support and traditional investment-model variables: satisfaction level, alternative quality, and investment size. All five predictors exhibited significant simple associations with commitment level. Regression analyses revealed that social prescription accounted for unique variance in commitment beyond satisfaction, alternatives, and investments; personal prescription did not account for unique variance in commitment.