We manipulated perspective taking and measured romantic intimates’ attention to their partners’ context. Participants read a letter supposedly from their romantic partner describing the partner's precarious situation (e.g., stress and financial issues) and either imagined their partner's difficult situation (n = 87) or remained objective and detached (n = 85). Afterwards, they drew a picture of their romantic partner in the situation (drawing task) and wrote about the thoughts they had while reading the letter (writing task). As predicted, when adopting their romantic partner's perspective (vs. remaining detached), geographically close intimates focused more on their partner's context, whereas long-distance intimates relied on self-anchoring processes to produce knowledge about their partner's feelings and thoughts in that specific situation. We discuss theoretical, clinical, and therapeutic implications of the findings for the study of differential perspective-taking processes and mechanisms in long-distance and geographically close relationships.

In two studies, we examined the effects of perspective taking aimed at one's romantic partner, and type of romantic relationship (long-distance vs. geographically close) on sensory specificity. Sensory specificity is defined as selectivity in using sensory dimensions such as visual, acoustical, or tactile, in romantic interactions. Participants were undergraduate students involved in exclusive romantic relationships. In Study 1 (N = 210), a perspective-taking orientation to the partner enhanced sensory selectivity in both types of relationships. In Study 2 (N = 120), in which perspective taking was manipulated, perspective taking caused an increase in sensory specificity for partners living in the same location, and not for those in long-distance relationships. These findings underscore the importance of studying perspective taking in the context of sensory-based romantic interactions. Implications and future directions are discussed.

We propose that an orientation toward relating to one's romantic partner via multiple sensory channels has beneficial effects for the relationship, especially for long-distance relationships. We used Wicklund's (2004) conceptualisation of full-dimensionality of relating and Brehm's (1999) emotional intensity theory to test the effects of a sensory multidimensional orientation and difficulty of maintaining the romantic relationship on feelings of love and commitment. In Study 1, we tested 55 participants involved in a long-distance romantic relationship and found that a multidimensional orientation fended off the detrimental effects of difficulty of maintaining the relationship: when partners experienced high difficulty, those with a high orientation experienced more positive affect, love, and commitment than those with a low orientation. In Study 2, data from 31 long-distance and 23 geographically-close participants indicated that a high multidimensionality orientation had a greater positive impact in long-distance relationships than in geographically-close relationships. In Study 3, 40 long-distance participants were asked to write about two times when it was either difficult but possible or nearly impossible to maintain their current relationship. Positive affect for the partner, love, and desire to be with the partner in the future were highest for the participants in the possible condition who preferred relating to the partner on multiple sensory channels. Altogether, these studies underline the importance of multidimensional orientation in romantic relationships, especially when intimates perceive maintaining the relationship as being difficult but manageable. Theoretical and practical implications of this new concept of sensory multidimensionality orientation are discussed.