Informal Helping in Partner and Stranger Dyads

The helping interactions of partners in close relationships and of strangers were compared in this study. Ninety-two participants (from 46 couples) completed a semistructured helping task with their partner and with an opposite-sex stranger. Partners were less empathic and used fewer acknowledgements and more behavioral advisements, interpretations, and self-disclosures than strangers. There were no differences in perceived helpfulness between partners and strangers. Results are discussed in terms of the general effects of familiarity on communication, and of the specific dynamics of informal helping in close relationships.