“Individual-dyad dynamics”: A new perspective and empirical methods for understanding mental health and well-being

Dyadic relationships play a pivotal role in mental health and well-being. Although individual-level factors such as self-esteem and attachment style have been widely studied, the psychological constructs shared and emerging in dyadic relationships have not been explored adequately. This article introduces a novel approach called “individual-dyad dynamics” for understanding mental health and well-being, and provides an overview of dyadic data analysis methods. The approach examines processes involved in dyadic relationships at both the individual and dyad level. Utilizing the tenets of social cognitive theory and social capital theory, we propose that shared relational efficacy, which refers to two individuals having common efficacy expectations and subjectively experiencing commonality in expectations, is distinguishable from perceived relational efficacy. The article discusses the nature of shared relational efficacy from both theoretical (i.e., self-efficacy and shared reality) and analytical (i.e., multilevel structural equation modeling) perspectives. We summarize past empirical research providing preliminary support for this approach and outline implications and future directions regarding dyadic relationship studies.