CONFLICT AND PREOCCUPATION IN THE INTIMACY LIFE TASK

Pursuing a goal in daily life can involve conflict and preoccupation as well as satisfaction and positive affect. This article addresses the correlates of conflict about the pursuit of romantic intimacy for a sample of women in a college sorority. For those women already in serious relationships, conflict was associated with romantic satisfaction but also with a narrow focus on communion in the relationship. For those pursuing intimacy in the context of casual dating, conflict was associated with the perceived difficulty and dissatisfaction of the task, but also with time spent thinking about it and with a desire to effect change in their romantic lives. Implications of these findings are discussed in the light of literature on personal goals and interpersonal attachment styles.