RESEARCH_FILE
Heidi L. Fritz
Carnegie Mellon University (at time of key publications)
Known for:Empirically separating unmitigated communion from ordinary communion — showing self-neglect, not caring, predicts distress
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“If I disagree, they'll like me less”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“I can disagree and still be worth having here.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Open a notes app or scrap of paper and write three tiny preferences you actually have right now—one for food, one for music, one for plans. Circle the one you would say out loud first in a low-stakes setting later.
Key findings
- 1998
Across student and cardiac-patient samples, unmitigated communion — but not communion — was related to psychological distress, and its signature behaviors were self-neglect and overinvolvement with others' problems. Distinctions of unmitigated communion from communion: Self-neglect and overinvolvement with others ↗
- 1999
Unmitigated communion is empirically distinct from communion: it correlates with a negative view of the self and dependence on others' approval, whereas communion correlates with positive relationship quality — the constructs must not be collapsed into 'being caring'. Unmitigated Agency and Unmitigated Communion: Distinctions from Agency and Communion ↗