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The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between adult attachment style, humility, and relationship satisfaction in college student couples. Attachment style--given its significant role in predicting how individuals feel, think, and behave in relationships--was expected to be an important predictor of humility, although this possibility has rarely been studied empirically. The current study found that: (a) attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were significant, negative predictors of total humility, (b) attachment anxiety (but not attachment avoidance) was a significant, negative predictor of both intrapersonal and interpersonal humility, (c) a romantic partner's attachment avoidance (but not attachment anxiety) was a significant, negative predictor of a target person's relationship satisfaction, and (d) a romantic partner's perceived level of humility was a significant, positive predictor of a target person's relationship satisfaction.

The current research study examined the way that social networking site use impacts individuals’ self-esteem in relation to their romantic relationship, relationship satisfaction, and social comparison orientation. Previous research has established links between SNS use and negative mental health outcomes, but no current research studies SNS use, specifically time spent on SNS use, and how it relates to self-esteem, relationship satisfaction, and social comparison orientation. Using social comparison theory, this study predicted that increased time spent on SNSs would negatively impact relationship satisfaction, self-esteem, and positively predict social comparison orientation. An online survey was used to test the relationship among these variables by asking questions and using scales related to relationship satisfaction, relationship contingent self-esteem, and social comparison orientation, while looking at how time spent on SNS impacted these results, as well as how often an individual posts about their relationship impacted the results. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. This study found that increased time spent on SNS platforms did negatively impact relationship satisfaction and self-esteem, as well as positively predict social comparison orientation. Although, some of the hypotheses were not supported or were only partially supported, the findings from this study further show the importance of understanding SNS use, especially in the clinical context, so it can be assessed and utilized in the therapy setting.

<p>Research shows the significance that communication patterns, beliefs, and behaviors hold within a multitude of relationship types. Unfortunately, the same research also shows that effective or positive communication is still not occurring as often as we think. Communicative interaction breaks down, fails, or is utilized negatively more often when emotionally charged topics are at the forefront of the conversation, most often due to reported personal discomfort. This negative interaction, and the subsequent breakdown in communication, can foster a snowball effect – decreasing relationship and sexual satisfaction. This study was aimed to discover how perceived comfort levels contributes to the lack of communication of certain topics and how it is affecting relationship and sexual satisfaction. The type of communicative process that occurs will affect the sexual satisfaction and relationship satisfaction. Through an online survey, participants anonymously responded to statements related to these concepts in order to test relationships. Overall, it was found that respondents’ participation in self-monitoring, as well as what method of communication they use, strongly influenced their comfort disclosing on different topics. Their comfort did not have significant influence on their then communication process. It was also found that communication processes influence couple’s relationship and sexual satisfaction. These results urge marriage and family therapists to update their clinical toolboxes and add self-monitoring to their conceptualization when working with couples. </p>

<p>This quantitative study sought to expand upon research surrounding the influence pornography use has on relationship and sexual satisfaction for gays and lesbians. Previous literature has primarily focused on the couple outcomes associated with pornography use for heterosexual romantic relationships. This research was conducted and conceptualized through the lens of queer and minority stress theory. It was hypothesized that amount of shared pornography use would be positively associated with relationship and sexual satisfaction for same-sex couples. Additionally, it was hypothesized that the relationship between amount of shared pornography use and relationship as well as sexual satisfaction for same-sex couples will be more strongly positively associated for a high level of acceptance of pornography use. Lastly, it was hypothesized that the relationship between the amount of shared pornography use and level of relationship as well as sexual satisfaction will be more strongly positively associated for women than men. Five of the six hypotheses were not statistically significant. The relationship between amount of shared pornography use and level of sexual satisfaction was strongly positively associated for higher levels of acceptance of pornography use. In addition, higher levels of acceptance of pornography use were related to higher levels of relationship satisfaction. Regarding control variables, relationship status was found to be significantly associated with relationship satisfaction. Participants who reported being either engaged or married indicated higher satisfaction with the current state of their romantic relationship than participants who were dating or cohabitating. Strengths and limitations, clinical implications, and future directions for research are explored.<br></p>

Using a Structural Equation Modeling Approach, this study examines the relationship between pornography acceptance and frequency of use and self-esteem, sexual satisfaction, and overall relationship satisfaction. Almost all published studies prior to the present study have only measured pornography acceptance or frequency of use. This study is to help contribute to the literature of understanding pornography through measuring pornography acceptance and frequency of use. The model was run overall and based on gender as previous literature had indicated differences in sexual satisfaction and relationship satisfaction with the use of pornography. It was expected that acceptance and more frequent use of pornography would positively predict self-esteem for men but negatively predict self-esteem for women. It was also expected that acceptance of pornography use would positively predict sexual satisfaction for men and negatively predict sexual satisfaction for women. Additionally, it was expected that higher self-esteem and higher sexual satisfaction will lead to a higher level of relationship satisfaction. Results indicated frequency of pornography use resulted in increased self-esteem for men and not for women. Findings also highlighted that acceptance of pornography resulted in decreased self-esteem for men but not for women. Results showed that acceptance of pornography use positively predicted sexual satisfaction for both men and women. Self-esteem as impacted by pornography was found to have no significant relationship with relationship satisfaction although sexual satisfaction was positively related to relationship satisfaction

In couple relationships, the phenomenon of accepting influence is both an observable action, seen in couples compromising and respecting each other, as well as an approach to the relationship, one’s perception that their partner is someone worthy of sharing power with. This study utilizes a life course perspective to examine the mediated relationship between childhood experiences, partners accepting influence, and relationship satisfaction in a sample of military couples. An actor partner interdependence mediation model was fit in Amos to examine the relationships. Civilian spouses’ childhood experiences were related to their perception their partner accepts influence and service members’ perception their partner accepts influence; this was then related to both partners’ relationship satisfaction. Accepting influence is a potential leverage point for improving relationship satisfaction in military couples who may be at an increased risk due to the nature of military life.

Research on associations between online dating and later relationship and sexual satisfaction is limited. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between meeting a romantic partner online or in person and later relationship and sexual satisfaction for heterosexual males and females. Main analysis results suggest that men report higher relationship satisfaction when they met their partner online and women with a preoccupied and dismissing attachment style reported higher sexual satisfaction when they met their partner online. Overall, there were few differences in relationship and sexual satisfaction for heterosexual men and women who met their partner online or in person.

abstract: Individuals in a romantic relationship may avoid discussing certain topics with their partner, often to avoid relational and emotional risk. This strategy is known as topic avoidance and may be an important factor for individuals in turbulent romantic relationship to consider due to the importance of communicating with a partner. The associations between characteristics such as openness, relationship satisfaction, and perceived partner unresponsiveness, and topic avoidance have not been directly studied within dogmatism literature. However, dogmatism, defined as a person’s relative openness (or closedness) to new information, may be an important construct associated with topic avoidance that strengthens the associations between perceived partner unresponsiveness, and topic avoidance, and weakens the association between openness, relationship satisfaction, and topic avoidance. Using data from 334 individuals in romantic relationships, results revealed that perceived partner unresponsiveness was positively associated with State of the Relationship, relationship satisfaction was positively associated with Conflict-Inducing and Negative Life Experiences, such that as scores on relationship satisfaction and perceived partner unresponsiveness increased, topic avoidance scores also increased. Openness was not associated with Topic Avoidance. Additionally, as predicted, dogmatism moderated the association between relationship satisfaction and State of the Relationship Topic Avoidance, the associations between perceived partner unresponsiveness and State of the Relationship Topic Avoidance and Negative Life Experiences Topic Avoidance. This research has important implications for clinicians working with individuals who present with relational concerns and exhibit dogmatic behavior. Limitations and future directions are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Counseling 2019

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