Interest in another's consideration of one's needs in communal and exchange relationships

Three studies found support for the hypothesis that interest in another's consideration of one's needs is greater when a communal relationship is desired with the other than when an exchange relationship is desired. This hypothesis was based on the assumption that monitoring of the extent to which the other considers one's own welfare will be high in a mutual communal relationship. Interest in another's consideration of one's needs was measured in Study 1 by participants' glances at lights indicating whether or not another was selecting problem hints for the participant, in Study 2 by participants' ratings of their interest in the length of time another spent selecting a task for them, and in Study 3 by participants' ratings of interest in the time another spent selecting a gift for them and whether an identical gift was bought for someone else at the same time. In each study, scores on the measure of interest in the other's consideration of one's needs were higher when a communal relationship was desired. In Study 3, evidence was found that interest in another's consideration of one's needs is greater when the uncertainty about a communal relationship is greater. (C) 1998 Academic Press.