Although romantic relationships are an important source of self-esteem, individuals vary in the degree to which romantic relationships determine their self-esteem. For individuals with relationship-contingent self-esteem (RCSE), self-esteem is based on the quality of perceived romantic relationship functioning. In contrast, global self-esteem is derived from a variety of domains, not specifically relationship quality. The present study investigated the moderating effects of RCSE and global self-esteem on the effects of relationship specific or relationship-unrelated threats and self-affirmations. Individuals with low global self-esteem react to threats by distancing themselves from their romantic partners. For those low in RCSE, this should occur only when the threats are relationship specific, whereas those low in global self-esteem distance themselves regardless of what type of threat they experience. Exposure to self-affirmations limits this defensive distancing in individuals with low global self-esteem. Prior studies examining the effects of induced self-threats and self-affirmations on perceived relationship functioning have been limited by reliance on college student samples, whose relationships are often shorter in duration than older adults. The current studies examined self-esteem and RCSE within the context of older participants in longer romantic relationships. Specifically, Study 1 examined how self-threats and self-affirmations interacted with dispositional levels of RCSE and self-esteem to predict romantic relationship outcomes. Participants wrote about past experiences to induce self-affirmations or self-threats, which were either relational (i.e., about their current relationship) or non-relational (i.e., about their personal lives), and then completed measures of relationship functioning. Contrary to predictions, there were no significant interactions between either RCSE or self-esteem and the experimental conditions. There was a significant main effect for self-esteem, such that participants with low self-esteem reported less commitment, closeness, and satisfaction as compared to participants with high self-esteem. In Study 2, participants completed one of two writing prompts: a prompt to induce high RCSE, or a control prompt. Participants then wrote about past experiences to induce self-threats that were either relational or non-relational. Contrary to hypotheses, inducing high levels of RCSE and exposing participants to a relational self-threat did not result in decreased relationship commitment, closeness, or satisfaction. The results of both Study 1 and Study 2 are contrary to previous research; potential explanations for this discrepancy and implications are discussed.

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abstract: Social media has been extensively researched, and its effects on well-being are well established. What is less studied, however, is how social media affects romantic relationships specifically. The few studies that have researched this have found mixed results. Some researchers have found social media to have a positive influence on relationship outcomes, while other have found social media to have a negative influence. In an attempt to reconcile these discrepancies, the current thesis study explored possible mediators between social media use and relationship health outcomes which, to my knowledge, has not been investigated in previous literature. Three moderators were explored: type of social media use (active use versus passive use), relationship-contingent self-esteem, and social comparison orientation. The baseline portion of the study had 547 individuals, recruited from Arizona State University’s SONA system as well as Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, who were in a romantic relationship for at least three months; the follow-up portion of the study had 181 participants. Results suggest that women who passively use social media exhibit a negative association between hours per day of social media use and baseline relationship satisfaction. Men who passively use social media exhibited a negative association between hours per day of social media use and follow-up relationship satisfaction, as well as a negative association with baseline commitment. While relationship-contingent self-esteem did not moderate the association between hours per day of social media use and relationship health, it was positively related to both men and women’s baseline relationship satisfaction and baseline commitment. Social comparison orientation (SCO) produced minimal results; women low on SCO exhibited a negative association between social media use and baseline relationship satisfaction, and higher SCO for men was associated with lower baseline commitment. Finally, exploratory post-hoc mediation models revealed that relationship comparisons mediated the association between hours per day of social media use and baseline relationship, as well as baseline commitment, for both men and women. Previous research supports the findings regarding passive social media use, while the findings regarding relationship-contingent self-esteem and relationship comparisons add new findings to the romantic relationship literature. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2019

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