Previous research indicates that there are a number of factors that contribute to one’s propensity to engage in cheating. The purpose of the current study was to explore trends in relationships, cheating, and attraction, and to determine the extent to which electronic media influences these. In a self-report survey of 265 participants (217 females; M age 20.9; SD 1.5), it was found that sociosexual orientation and impulsivity were related to past and current cheating, and increased quality of alternatives, diminished commitment and dissatisfaction were associated with current cheating. Impulsivity, quality of alternatives and diminished commitment were also found to be associated with electronic extradyadic intimacy. Finally, diminished commitment and increased perceived quality of alternatives were found to be associated with attraction to close cross-sex friends. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.

13 | P a g e SUMMARY In South Africa’s rapidly changing social and cultural context, where family dynamics and relationships are changing just as quickly, it is essential to discover which factors contribute to successful relationships that persist over time. Previous research has utilised the Investment Model Scale (Rusbult, 1980) in order to understand commitment processes and the constructs satisfaction, quality of alternatives and investment have been identified as key determinants of commitment in romantic contexts. In the present study however I investigated the primary research question, “How can commitment be measured in the context of family relationships?” Data collection took place through the Family Commitment Scale (which was adapted from the Investment Model Scale) and a new meaningfulness scale was added in an attempt to explore whether meaningfulness would be a better predictor of family commitment than satisfaction, quality of alternatives and investment. The statistical analyses were conducted with the purpose of examining the research question and hypotheses. The findings of the present study contribute to commitment literature by underlining the utility of the Invest Model Scale in nonromantic contexts and providing an instrument which can reliably measure family commitment. Meaningfulness is also highlighted as a motivational feature behind family commitment processes. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

<p>Workplace bullying is a major global issue which has received a lot of recognition because of its negative effects on victims’ health and work productivity. There have been many attempts to mitigate the effects of workplace bullying, leading researchers to extensively study the phenomenon in various contexts and relationships. Information on workplace bullying in the academic context, precisely relationships between academic advisors and graduate student advisees, is however, lacking. This study aimed at filling in the gap by seeking information about communicative behaviors from advisors that graduate advisees characterized as bullying, and common responses graduate advisees resorted to in the face of adversity. We also sought to understand why advisees may have responded to maltreatment in specific ways. We, therefore, proposed a working model which hypothesized a relationship between advisor negative acts, commitment levels of advisees, and advisee responses. Using Amazon’s Mechanical (MTurk) to recruit our sample, participants filled out a survey which included a few demographic questions, the revised version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ-R) to measure advisor negative acts, the Exit-Voice-Loyalty-Neglect (EVLN) typology to measure advisee responses, and the Investment Model Scale (IMS) to measure advisee commitment levels to the work relationship with advisors. We verified the reliability and validity of the scales adopted for this study and ran some correlation and mediation analyses to answer our research questions and test our hypotheses. From our findings, we learned that most advisees reported personal insults occurring more frequently in their work relationships with advisors. Advisees also reported a high commitment to the work relationships with their advisors, despite maltreatment, and often responded by adopting the voice or neglect strategy. Findings from this exploratory study imply there is more information to be sought on workplace bullying between advisees and advisors in academic contexts.</p> <br> <p> </p>