Murray, S.L.Aloni, M.Holmes, J.G.Derrick, J.L.Stinson, D.A.Leder, S.2021-08-042021-08-0420092009Murray, S.L., Aloni, M., Holmes, J.G., Derrick, J.L., Stinson, D.A., Leder, S. (2009). Fostering partner dependence as trust insurance: The implicit contingencies of the exchange script in close relationships. Journal of Personal and Social Psychology, 96(2), 324-348. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012856https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012856http://hdl.handle.net/1828/13203A model of the trust-insurance system is proposed to examine how low and high self-esteem people cope with the interdependence dilemma posed by feeling inferior to a romantic partner. Feeling inferior automatically activates “if-then” contingencies that link inferiority to the exchange script (i.e., partner qualities are evenly traded) and exchange script anxieties to reparative efforts to secure a partner's dependence. A daily diary study of newlyweds and five experiments supported the model. Induced upward social comparisons to the partner activated exchange anxieties for low, but not high, self-esteem people. When implicitly primed, the exchange script heightened worries about being inferior and motivated behavioral efforts to increase the partner's dependence regardless of self-esteem. When consciously deliberated, the exchange script only elicited dependence-promotion for low self-esteem people.enArticleDepartment of Psychology