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The current study is the first to explore how reported reasons for divorce are associated with the emotional climate of subsequent marriages, and if the emotional climate of these relationships is significantly different from that of happy or unhappy first marriages. It also examines whether variations in the emotional climate of marriage are reducible to underlying personality characteristics. These issues were investigated using data from the Texas Baseline Survey on Marriage. Results indicate that there are two types of marriage that end in divorce: those preceded by a highly distressed marriage, and those preceded by a less distressed marriage. Regardless of emotional tenor of the marriage prior to divorce, the emotional climate of remarriages appears to be largely similar to that of happy first marriages and substantially better than that of unhappy first marriages. Although individuals with different relationship histories possess distinct personality profiles, the differences in emotional climate persist after the effects of personality have been taken into account. Overall, these results suggest that accounting for differences among those who have divorced, as well as distinguishing between happy and unhappy first marriages, is important for understanding the affective nature of marriage. / text

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Qualitative interviews were used to gather data from nine married couples about their flirtatious communication behaviors with each other. The husband and wife in each couple were interviewed separately. Flirtation was examined to understand its effect on marital satisfaction and to explore its potential utility as a relational maintenance strategy in marriage. Data revealed that couples felt that flirtation was important in maintaining their marriage as a tactic for enacting assurances, positivity and conflict management and that flirtation had a relationship to the satisfaction they experienced in their marriage. In addition, sex differences were discussed. These findings expand the existing research on flirtation, relational maintenance and marital satisfaction. / Department of Communication Studies

This thesis investigates two important and related aspects of Roman history during the period 217 B.C. - A.D. 70. Salient types of social legislation, in particular the leges sumptuariae, funerariae, aleariae, marital and sexual laws and magisterial edicts, form one element of the inquiry. The reasons for, and the extent of, the public regulation of the personal expenditure and private behaviour of citizens are explored under the changing political circumstances of the period. Another concern is to analyse the development of a prominent theme in the classical writers and historians, namely, the perspective of moral decline. The deep-rooted and pervasive pessimism evident in the historiographical tradition during a period of exceptional prosperity and imperial expansion is critically examined. The interaction between law and morality is a principal focus of this thesis. In chapter 1 (10-30), the general themes of the work are introduced. A review of the relevant scholarly literature is followed by a brief exposition of my methodology and objectives (11-13). Then a chronological survey of the important social regulations passed during the Republic and early Principate is provided (13-17). Chapter 2 (31-72) probes the ways in which legal enactments were presented both within governing circles and to the populace at large. The public interest was frequently invoked. Paternalistic concern, it is argued, was often advanced for that which was essentially self-regarding (31-36). A succinct account of the debate on decline in classical authors leads to a consideration of the mos maiorum (ancestral custom) and the role of myth in Roman historiography (36-46). The contemporary dispute between liberal and radical scholarship on the nature and function of law in society is summarized (46-50). In Ancient Rome, it is contended, the governing order's preferential access to the channels of public discussion was of decisive importance. It facilitated the expression of an ideological perspective which served to promote widespread acceptance of its legislative needs, as is exemplified by the passage of sumptuary controls so necessary for the well-being of the senatorial aristocracy in the second century B.C. (50-52). The socio-economic significance of Roman sumptuary laws is examined in chapter 3 (73-163). The main discussion is prefaced by a typology of sumptuary laws, designed to account for the existence of expenditure restraint in widely differing political systems (73-75). The inquiry proceeds, firstly, to investigate those regulations (esp. the iura and 1eges theatrales) which had a direct bearing on the structure of Roman society and, then, to explore the complexity of problems that the maintenance of this formal framework entailed for the authorities in periods of rapid social and economic change. A consideration of powerful social pressures and forces such as envy, emulative consumption and mobility, is complemented by a discussion of the diverse strategies employed by the Roman authorities to uphold hierarchical distinctions (75-107). Profit-capping, price-fixing, monopolies and rationing form diverse topics of an inquiry into the economic objectives of sumptuary restraint (108-119), Status requirements and the spiralling cost of political competition are held to account tor the divorce between the attitudes and practice of the members of the governing order with regard to luxus and Hellenistic practices (119-128). A detailed inspection of the sumptuary legislation passed during the Republic provides the core or chapter (164-210). The laws are assessed under separate categories, e.g. leges de sumptibus et de luxu mensae, funerariae, de habitu et tuitu, viariae (164-182). The techniques by which the aristocracy endeavoured to preserve cohesion amongst its ranks and thus to uphold its collective rule are scrutinized 182-2. In chapter 5 (211-259), attention is focused on how the Roman authorities attempted to compel obedience to these measures. The operation of extra-legal constraints is discussed c 211-2l4). A hypothesis of the development of Roman criminal law from its origins through to the early Principate is advanced with particular emphasis on the significance of senatorial participation in the juridical process and on the need to define accurately the competency of individual magistracies (214-239). The use of private informers (quadruplatores in the Republic, delatores in the Empire) is critically assessed (239-243). In chapter 6 (260-288), opinions and actions at variance with the conservative orthodoxy on historical development are evaluated. Resistance to sumptuary restraint surfaced in a variety of ways: in the formal abrogation of a measure; in technical dodges; in outright defiance (260-268). The ambivalences between publicly expressed ideals of conduct and actual practice came to a head in the adjudicative processes of the court. The mechanisms of forensic practice served to provoke maturer reflections on social change (269-273). Roman attitudes towards change are surveyed. It is argued that divergent opinions on ancestral tradition and on the propriety of innovation were often advanced in opposition to overzealous attempts at sumptuary restraint or in pursuit of specific political goals (269-279). Chapter 7 (289-329) concludes the work with a historical appraisal of the coincidence between the passage of sumptuary legislation and the debate on moral decline. Three major developments in the functioning of this coincidence are outlined: (1), its use as a regulatory device by the senatorial aristocracy from the early 2nd century B.C. onwards; (2), its use as a crucial source of legitimation by the aspiring politician-generals of the 1st century B.C.; (3), its use as a key disciplinary tactic by the imperial regimes from Augustus onwards (289-307). Finally, serious governmental incursions into central areas of social life during the early Principate - the suppression of criticism, legal scrutiny of knowledge and belief, restrictions on assemblage - are examined, and interpreted as evidencing the autocratic tendencies of the period (308-315). Four short appendices follow (330-361): the first outlines the major theories of decline (330-333): the second explores the terminology of inequality (334-339; the third surveys the major perspectives on social change (340-342); the fourth documents the manifestations of luxury in Roman society (343-361).

This study addressed substantial limitations in the literature pertaining to intimate partner violence (IPV). In particular, I addressed the gender symmetry debate, and identified factors associated with the dynamics of violent relationships by examining the correlates related to perpetrating and suffering IPV for both men and women. Finally, I examined attitudes towards IPV, communication behaviour, and conflict management techniques as a function of abuse history. Participants were recruited from three samples of the New Zealand population (student, general, and incarcerated). The inclusion of an incarcerated sample enabled the examination of more severe, frequent and injurious violence than is typically experienced within the student and general samples. There were three phases to the study. The first phase explored incidence rates and psychological correlates of IPV. As expected, the incidence of IPV was highest within the incarcerated sample (Chapter 5). Of greater significance, the incidence of IPV was similar for males and females, with the majority of violence being bi-directional (Chapters 4 & 5). Moreover, the psychological correlates associated with IPV were similar for perpetrators and victims, and males and females (Chapters 4 & 5). Due to the bi-directional nature of IPV, analyses presented in Chapters 4 and 5 were limited by the categorisation of participants as both perpetrators and victims. In Chapter 6, I overcame this limitation. The attitudes of victims were examined separately to individuals experiencing bi-directional violence. Validating the findings of Chapters 4 and 5, the attitudes and behaviours of victims and perpetrators were similar. These included being more hostile and negative towards others and ones� partner, being more controlling, and reporting more communication problems. I also further explored gender symmetry in IPV. Male and female IPV was found to be similar in frequency, severity, and similarly associated with control. However, the type of acts perpetrated differed across gender. During the second and third phase of the study, I further examined participants� communication behaviour (Chapter 7), conflict behaviour, and attitudes (Chapter 8). Findings revealed that perpetrators and victims employed less facilitative and polite linguistic devices (Chapter 7) and reported fewer skills for dealing with conflict (Chapter 8) than did other individuals. An examination of attitudes towards IPV revealed males and females had similar attitudes and were more condoning of female, than male-perpetrated IPV. Moreover, individuals with a history of IPV were the most condoning of violence. Additionally, a number of correlates associated with experiencing IPV were also associated with attitudes condoning IPV (Chapter 8). Overall, the findings revealed IPV to be bi-directional and gender symmetrical. Male and female IPV was similar in incidence, severity, and injury. Furthermore, the psychological correlates associated with IPV were similar for men and women, and perpetrators and victims. Individuals with a history of IPV were more controlling, hostile towards others, more condoning of IPV, employed less positive communication styles, and lacked skills for dealing with conflict. In light of these findings, suggestions are offered for violence prevention initiatives in the discussion sections of each chapter and in the final chapter (Chapter 9).

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-143). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR29628

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2005. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (p.48-54).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Notre Dame, 2005. / Thesis directed by Dawn M. Gondoli for the Department of Psychology. "April 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-125 ).