Online relationships are becoming increasingly popular due to the availability, accessibility, and affordability of online social networking and dating sites. Individuals are progressively moving from meeting romantic partners face to face to meeting and engaging with individuals online. There is ample evidence to support the view that individuals do initiate romantic relationships online and often these relationships progress offline. The primary focus of online research had been conducted by communication and linguistic scholars while very little research has been conducted into the psychological conceptualisation of online relationships. In addition, there is a lack of available research pertaining to the development of romantic relationships online and more so in South Africa. The current study utilised Sternberg’s Triangular model of love and the Johari window as a framework for understanding the concepts involved in online romantic relationships. The study specifically aimed to explore and describe the lived experiences of individuals who engage in online dating. The parameters of the study included the elements that comprise the online relationship, the subjective meaning attached to the relationships, and the processes these relationships encompass. The study moreover aimed to explore the progression of the online relationship. The study used a qualitative, phenomenological approach using snowball sampling and semi structured interviews to collect data. Tesch’s model of content analysis was used during data analysis while incorporating the four major processes in phenomenological research, namely (1) epoche, (2) phenomenological reduction, (3) imaginative variation and, (4) synthesis. The findings of the study generated a greater understanding of the complexities of online dating. Themes including online relationship development, the dynamics of online relationships, how love, according to the triangular model of love, is perceived online and, self-disclosure online were identified through the participants narratives. These findings ultimately can be used for future research.

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Online dating is becoming an increasingly used method for meeting significant others. This study had two central goals. The first goal was to explore the factors that contribute to deception used to attract a romantic partner online. The second aim was to discover the reasons that people with different attachment styles might lie as well as their justifications and interpretations for those lies. Male and female single college undergraduates (N = 208), who had previously completed an attachment style measure via an online screening, were asked to complete an online dating profile and an email to a potential dating partner. Participants reviewed these correspondences and noted any inaccuracies. They also completed a questionnaire related to lying in romantic relationships. It was hypothesized that both attachment style and gender would affect lying behavior. For online dating, results indicated that women told more self-oriented and subtle lies than men, and that high attachment avoidance and anxiety predicted greater lying behavior for participants with relationship experience. Offline, attachment predicted the motivations, justifications, and acceptability of lying to romantic partners. Implications related to online dating and attachment processes in relational deception are discussed.

Dating App Facilitated Sexual Assault (DAppSA) is a new phenomenon and growing concern. Research on DAppSA is extremely limited. This study aimed to identify unique victim and assault characteristics associated with DAppSAs. A retrospective SAMFE chart review of patients (N = 3,413) from 2017 to 2020 was conducted. Sexual assault nurse examiners completed SAMFEs. Inclusion criteria for DAppSA cases included 1) victim was 14 years of age or older; 2) victim indicated they met the perpetrator on a dating website or app; 3) the SA occurred at the initial in-person meeting; 4) victim had a SAMFE with evidence collection. DAppSAs were compared to non-DAppSA acquaintance SAs. DAppSAs (n=274) represented 8.02% of overall cases and 13.92% of acquaintance SAs (n=1,968). DAppSA victims had unique characteristics including a higher percentage of male victims (7.5%), college students (22.2%), and victims with self-reported mental illness (59.6%). Victims were less likely to fight back during the assault with lower percentages of kicking (5.8%) and hitting (9%). DAppSA victims and perpetrators were less likely to use drugs or alcohol before/during the assault. DAppSA perpetrators were shown to be more violent and pre-meditated, with higher condom use (15%) rates of washing the victim (13.8%), ejaculation (52.7%), lubrication use (14.2%), and strangulation (32.4%). DAppSAs had more assaultive/penetrative acts with 89.4% reporting penile penetration. DAppSA victims had more documented physical injuries (71.4%) and anogenital injuries (50.2%). DAppSA victims were also found to have unique characteristics and increased vulnerabilities of SA. DAppSA cases were more violent, premeditated, and resulted in more injuries. Implications for nursing practice to address safety concerns and improve care to survivors are discussed.

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Two Studies investigated the relationship between verbal behavior and short-term mate selection. The first study, an observational traditional speed-dating study, collected audio and video recordings of dyadic interactions between men and women in addition to self-report data on whether the participant would like to talk to each date in the future. The second study, a true experiment, employed the use of a researcher confederate to manipulate verbal behavior and attractiveness level of the speed-date partner. Participants were led to believe they were being "matched" with three other undergraduates based upon online profiles. Verbal behavior manipulations included varying valence-based autoclitics (neutral or high) and self-other referential autoclitics in two sequential orders (based on I , you , I /you in relation to one another, and dyadic we frames of reference). During traditional speed-dating, a wide variety of verbal operants were used. In general, dyadic we was not frequently used by participants, imprecise tacting tended to be characteristic of no ratings, and successful speed-daters tended to modify their verbal behavior as appropriate to the specific listener. For online-dating, among the findings concerning the observed relationships between autoclitics, physical attractiveness, and various outcomes in short-term romantic interest, were confederate use of I-to-we sequential progressions with neutral valence tended to best predict longer times spent chatting, as chosen by participants when given the choice to chat more than the five-minute minimum. Additionally, confederate use of I and you in relation to one another was positively correlated with participant interest ratings of the confederate for medium-attractiveness confederates and was negatively correlated with interest ratings for low- and high-attractiveness confederates. Autoclitics moderated the relationship between physical attractiveness of the confederate and yes ratings for both low- and high- attractiveness confederates. Findings from the current projects are discussed in context of general dissemination of verbal behavior and in context of other populations. / Psychology

In order to evaluate the electron microprobe (EMP) method for chemical dating of monazite, we chemically analyzed selected suites of monazite grains that were previously dated by standard U/Pb isotopic methods at three laboratories each equipped with a sensitive high resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP). Representing diverse igneous and metamorphic lithologies, these grains yielded conventional isotopic ages ranging in age from Neoarchean to Devonian. Chemical dating was performed at Virginia Tech using a Cameca SX-50 EMP in which the analytical routines and settings were specifically optimized for monazite geochronology, including correction of analytical peaks for all major spectral interferences and correction of peak intensities for local background emission. Placement of cross-grain analytical traverses was based on backscattered electron (BSE) images together with wavelength-dispersive (WD) generated X-ray maps for Y, Th, U, and Ca, which revealed the internal compositional complexity of each grain. Shorter EMP traverses were selected adjacent to each SHRIMP pit in order to provide the best possible comparison of ages obtained by the two dating methods. Synthesis protocol for key elemental measurements (Y, Th, U, and Pb) was developed utilizing the 1Ï elemental errors associated with individual analyses, providing an objective approach for data synthesis. Analytical dates were either accepted or excluded based on analytical and spatial justifications. Isotopic dating techniques utilize three independent age calculations, provided the sample is old enough to have accumulated sufficient 207Pb (i.e., ≥~1000 Ma). Similarly, the chemical dating method can utilize two independent age calculations (i.e., Th/Pb and U/Pb) and a U-Th-Pbtotal centroid age in Th/Pb vs. U/Pb space, verified independently against the calculated Th* or U* CHIME ages. Across the entire 2,200 m.y. age range represented by the sample set, the chemical ages calculated from the EMP data chemical ages are internally consistent (within 2Ï error) with the previously measured SHRIMP isotopic ages, except in one case where bulk mixing of discrete age domains within an ablation pit led to an isotopically discordant apparent age. Overall, this study illustrates that EMP chemical dating (1) represents both an accurate and precise primary method for dating monazite from igneous and polymetamorphic terrains; (2) provides superior spatial resolution for obtaining meaningful ages from small and/or irregular domains of discrete age that may be irresolvable or misinterpreted by other dating techniques that sample larger volumes; and (3) illuminates the geological meaning of isotopically discordant monazite ages obtained using conventional methods with lower spatial resolution (e.g., SHRIMP). / Ph. D.

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