Carnegie Mellon University
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Yuxi Xie

Adviser: Brooke Feeney
Majors: Psychology; Statistics
Minor: Politics and Public Policy

Predictors and Consequences of Support-Seeking in Close Relationships

Previous research on support-seeking has shown that attachment style is a significant predictor of support-seeking behavior. Yuxi Xie’s research will examine additional factors that facilitate support-seeking during stress discussions and whether support-seeking behavior is related to better physical and mental health. In the proposed study, couples will complete surveys about their relationship and health, then one week later, they will have a discussion about their current life stressors, which will be unobtrusively videotaped and coded by objective raters for support-seeking behavior. The associations between the participants’ support-seeking behavior during the stress discussions and a number of proposed predictors (such as their stress level and their perception of relationship closeness) will be assessed. The relationship between the participants’ support-seeking behavior and their report of health conditions will also be investigated. The proposed research will enhance our understanding of how people cultivate support in intimate relationships and will inform interventions aimed at improving relationship functioning, as well as health and well-being.

Bio

Xie is interested in how human behaviors and relationships are related to their mental and physical health. She has been working in the CMU Relationships Lab and doing research on intimate relationships for one year. In her everyday life, Xie enjoys baking, visiting different restaurants, listening to music and traveling.