Responsiveness

•Diverse processes have been shown to contribute to relationship well-being.•Responsiveness provides an integrated conceptual model that links these processes.•Responsiveness, per se, contributes to relationship and personal well-being.•Both enacted behavior and motivated construal influence perceived responsiveness.

Current research has honed in on responsiveness as the active ingredient that underlies many of the important qualities that define satisfying, healthy relationships. This article describes a dynamic interpersonal model of responsiveness in close relationships that is suggested by recent findings. In particular, we review evidence regarding three key questions of contemporary research interest. First, does responsiveness, in and of itself, promote relationship and personal well-being? Second, to what extent does perceived responsiveness depend on accurate understanding of the self by partners? Third, is perceived responsiveness grounded in the partner's actions, the perceiver's motivated interpretations, or both? Answers to these questions contribute to the development of an integrated model of responsiveness for future work to build upon.