Social anhedonia is a deficiency in the capacity to experience pleasure from social

interactions. This study examined the implications of social anhedonia for romantic

relationship functioning, including the association of social anhedonia with sentiments

towards romantic partners that are central to relationship functioning (satisfaction,

commitment, regard, and care), analogous perceptions of the partner’s sentiments, hostile

behavior during relationship conflict, and perception of the partner’s hostile behavior.

Data were collected from 281 participants who were involved in romantic relationships.

Support was found for social anhedonia’s hypothesized negative association with

satisfaction, regard, and care, as well as all four perceived partner sentiments. These

associations were independent of attachment anxiety and avoidance. Additionally,

attachment avoidance mediated social anhedonia’s relationship with commitment.

However, no support was found for social anhedonia’s hypothesized positive association

with actual and perceived partner hostile behavior. Results suggest that social anhedonia

may undermine the functioning of interpersonal relationships.