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Following a transgression, interpersonal forgiveness is one strategy used to restore harmony between the victim and offender. Research also suggests that forgiveness can promote psychological and physical health. Research has shown that an apology from the offender may facilitate the forgiveness process. The majority of studies suggest that when a victim receives an apology, they experience higher levels of forgiveness toward their offender. The purpose of this thesis was to explore the association between apology and forgiveness in a sample of adults and undergraduate students (N = 803). The results are organized in three sections. First, I found a positive relationship between apology and forgiveness, replicating prior research. Second, I created a new measure of transgression severity, and provided evidence of internal consistency, construct validity, and criterion-related validity for this measure. Third, I tested two variables hypothesized to moderate the association between apology and forgiveness. First, there was some evidence that perceived offender humility moderated the association between simple apology and forgiveness. Offenders who were perceived as being more humble when providing a simple apology were granted more forgiveness than their less humble counterparts. Second, there was some evidence that transgression severity moderated the association between a complete apology and forgiveness, but the effect was in the opposite direction as hypothesized. For individuals who reported a transgression of high severity, there was a stronger association between the completeness of an apology and forgiveness than for individuals who reported a transgression of low severity. I conclude by discussing limitations, areas for future research, and implications for counseling.

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In two related studies with dating and married couples, the protective function of beliefs about personal value similarity was examined. Relational threat was measured when couple members' value similarity beliefs were disconfirmed or when couple members reported beliefs of value dissimilarity. Gender-specific compensatory mechanisms, reflective of relational self-construal, were examined in association with relational well being. Study 1 was a controlled laboratory experiment with dating couples that examined disconfirmation of perceived value similarity. Study 2 examined naturally occurring variance of married couples' beliefs about value similarity in the context of pregnancy and amniocentesis testing. Results revealed that dating and married couples did assume similarity about their personal values in moral contexts that reflected relational significance. / Results supported that assumptions about value similarity were protective for couple members. Beliefs about value similarity that were disconfirmed by experimentally controlled feedback as well as perceived value dissimilarity in a naturally occurring context both posed relational threat for dating couples and pregnant women, respectively. Gender-specific compensatory mechanisms were evoked and were associated with overall relational well being when romantic intimates considered personal value dissimilarity. Women demonstrated pro-relational behaviors, consistent with their relational self-construal, such that they shifted their personal values and brought their values in closer alignment with their partners' values while, additionally, increasing their ratings of partners' positive attributes. Dating men, consistent with their less relational self-construal, did not alter their personal values and instead increased their ratings of their partners' positive attributes, which accounted for increased relational satisfaction. Married men who considered value dissimilarity with their pregnant partners did not experience relational threat but demonstrated pro-relational behaviors such that they shifted their personal values and brought their values in closer alignment with their partners' values while increasing their ratings of partners' positive attributes. The studies provide expanded knowledge for the growing field of close relationship literature. Results were also discussed in the context of pregnancy, social support, and the utilization of amniocentesis tests.

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The purpose of this study is to examine domestic violence as it occurs in same-sex male relationships. Data were collected by in-depth interviews with twenty-five gay males, who were between the ages of 23 and 43, and who had previous experience being in a homosexual relationship where domestic violence was present. The major findings of this study include the respondents': 1) definitions of domestic violence and abuse; 2) the type of domestic violence or abuse personally experienced; and 3) reasons they believe domestic violence or abuse occurs in these types of relationships. This study illustrates the need for further research in this area of domestic violence and for programs or services targeted for this specific population.

Little research has examined the role of physical activity in relationship functioning. Utilizing two heterosexual subsamples of 618 females and 155 males, results indicated that physical activity was positively correlated with sexual satisfaction and self-esteem for the female subsample, but was not significant for the male subsample. For both subsamples, although physical activity was not a significant unique predictor of relationship functioning in regression analyses, sexual satisfaction and self-esteem each significantly contributed the variance relationship functioning. The findings of this study increase our knowledge of mechanisms that impact sexual satisfaction, self-esteem, and physical activity among women, which in turn can potentially guide treatment planning and interventions.

Self-enhancement is a process by which individuals misperceive themselves by viewing themselves in a positively biased manner. Past research indicates that self-enhancement can have both positive and negative effects on romantic relationships. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the role of self-enhancement in unmarried dating couples (N = 124 couples; 248 individuals) with respect to conflict, dyadic adjustment, causal and responsibility attributions, and possible moderators between self-enhancement and dyadic adjustment. The results are organized in four sections. First, I found a curvilinear relationship between participant self-enhancement and conflict. At very low and very high levels of self-enhancement there were increased levels of conflict. Second, participant self-enhancement was positively associated with positively associated with increased participant dyadic adjustment, but there was no relationship between participant self-enhancement and partner dyadic adjustment. Third, there was no relationship between participant self-enhancement and causal and responsibility attributions. Fourth, forgiveness and commitment did not moderate the relationship between self-enhancement and dyadic adjustment; however, there were main effects for both forgiveness and commitment - both forgiveness and commitment were positively associated with dyadic adjustment. I conclude by discussing limitations, areas of future research, and implications for counseling.

This study investigated responsibility attributions for a partner's emotional infidelity and for a partner's sexual infidelity, and the likelyhood that the victim or partner would end the relationship. This study found a significant relationship between responsibility attributions for a romantic partner's unfaithfulness and the likelihood the relationship would end: the stronger the attributions of personal responsibility the more likely the relationship would dissolve.