PROBLEM STATEMENT: The way we interact in our relationships is continuously changing as technology advances. Technology can be used to enhance or destroy relationships depending on how people manage their use within relationships. Human relationships especially romantic ones are essential as they have an impact on a person's emotional, mental, and physical well-being. Most of the research to date has focused on the quantitative measurement of the advantages and disadvantages of technology as well as on the problematic use of smartphones. Little research has been done on the effect of smartphones on romantic relationship maintenance. THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH: The objective of this research was to find out how individuals in romantic relationships were using their smartphones to maintain their relationships. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY: This research followed an interpretivist qualitative approach. Data was collected firstly through a discussion on Twitter under the hashtag #“RomanticMaintenancewithSmartphones”. This was then followed by fourteen in-depth semi-structured interviews which were done with individuals who were in romantic relationships or had been in a romantic relationship less than six months ago. A combination of purposive, snowballing and convenience sampling techniques were used. The affordance theory was used as a theoretical framework for the research and the data was analysed using thematic analysis. FINDINGS: The study identified individual and interactional affordances of smartphones for romantic relationship maintenances. Relationship thinking, breaking away from reality and displaying intimacy and affection where the individual affordances identified in the study. The interactive affordances were showing support and encouragement, planning and organising, openness for conflict management and displaying transparency. Personal values and culture were seen to have an impact on which affordances of smartphones a person utilised. In addition to maintaining the relationship positively, there were also negative outcomes of the actualization of the affordances of smartphones such as unrealistic expectations created on partners and partner abstraction.

Background: The success and quality of B2B relationships have been researched for decades. Relationship success carries many definitions, but prior literature lacks depth in how it is achieved. Relationship quality is often determined through three pillars: trust, commitment, and satisfaction. There is, however, unclarity as to what underlying factors build these pillars, due to the scarce amount of literature available on the topic. Purpose: To establish what aspects contribute to the success and quality of a relationship, by examining how relationship success, as well as relationship quality and how its three pillars are built, are perceived by Mediaspjuth's customers. Method: This interpretivist study initially follows a deductive approach as an already existing conceptual framework has guided the collection of data deemed necessary to answer the research questions. As the aim is to also seek answers to what factors build the three pillars of relationship quality; trust commitment, and satisfaction, the study also undertakes an inductive approach. Ten qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted as a primary source of data. Conclusion: The empirical findings detected important factors influencing relationship success, trust, commitment, and satisfaction. The study found that the quality of the relationship, quality of delivery, and integrity were the main factors affecting relationship success. Trust was built on the delivery process and the management of the relationship, while commitment focused on proactivity and dedication. Lastly, satisfaction was achieved mainly through the outcome quality and mutual benefits.

The current study explored whether childhood bullying has a lasting impact on the quality of adult romantic relationships. A complete case analysis of 86 participant responses examined the association between bullying, insecure attachment, romantic relationship satisfaction, and trust. The findings partially supported study hypotheses. Specifically, a significant positive correlation between social manipulation, a type of bullying, and avoidant attachment was found. Physical victimization was also positively correlated with trust. However, no significant association between bullying and relationship satisfaction was found. Exploratory multiple regression analysis showed that both physical victimization and romantic relationship satisfaction predict the level of trust experienced in a romantic relationship. Additional research is warranted in this area of interpersonal functioning.

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Adult attachment has been found to play an important role for romantic relationship satisfaction. Specifically, the existent literature generally suggests that attachment anxiety is negatively related to relationship satisfaction. However, the underlying mechanism for this link still needs further exploration. The present study examined the direct and indirect effect of attachment anxiety on relationship satisfaction via two distinct relationship commitment variables: constraint commitment and dedication commitment. The final sample included 146 unmarried participants who were in a romantic relationship for at least three months. Results of multiple regression analyses on the indirect effect model indicated that attachment anxiety had a significant direct effect on relationship satisfaction as well as a significant indirect effect on relationship satisfaction via constraint commitment. However, the hypothesized indirect effect through dedication commitment was not supported. Findings are discussed from the adult attachment perspective. Counseling implications, limitations, and future research directions are outlined.

A great deal of the existing literature on parental divorce focuses on the negative influences it has on children and young adults in regards to such areas as their relationships (romantic and familial) and their academic standing. The implications of such research are that parental divorce will always bring harm to families and, consequentially, should be avoided for the sake of the children's wellbeing. What is often missing from this research is a focus on the potential positive outcomes of parental divorce. The intent of this thesis is to explore the effects of parental divorce on young adults' ability to form and maintain romantic relationships, focusing on the positive outcomes of parental divorce on young adults and seeking to answer the question of whether or not young adults can actually benefit from their parents' divorce. By surveying a sample of 233 students from divorced and intact families from a large university on their experiences with parental divorce and/or romantic relationships, in conjunction with face to face interviews, the current study provides a deeper insight into the social factors that help define divorce as positive and explores the effects of family structure, gender of child, economic situation, and pre-existing parental conflict on young adults of divorced parents. Findings suggest that these young adults do experience positive outcomes after the divorce and that these outcomes are dependent on a variety of familial and social factors that shape the divorce experience.

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In 2010 the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government set out to improve customer service by adopting the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that was used mainly in private sector. There was a concern about implementing the one size fits all CRM. Therefore, public managers needed to understand the various public sector relationship types and to consider a relational, emotional and behavioral approach to the public-government relationship rather than the technical business management approach. The research here identifies some key distinctive typologies and key contextual relationship factors to better design a management approach that suits each typology. Some key relationship components are stakeholders, services, government role, service concept and relationship exchange. Reviewing the literature from the relationship lens, many studies have focused on understanding the components of a public-government relationship. The gap in the literature highlights the need for CRM models for the government sector functions, identifying the various contextual factors of the relationship, and a need to cater to the behavioral and emotional aspect of the relationship. The seven public-government relationship typology framework emerged from meta-synthesis of the literature review. The study uses UAE Federal government CRM, specifically the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP). Grounded theory methodology was used to explore the seven public-government factors. Twenty-four qualitative interviews were conducted. The examined relationships include: entrepreneurial, public beneficiary, social beneficiary, organizer, protector, arbitrator, and supporter. The findings aid practitioners in designing the public-government relationship management approach that suits the nature of each relationship and its context. Theoretically, the relationship is the new lens for improving customer service in the public sector and the private sector. This emphasizes that the one size fits all CRM approach needs to be changed to more of a human and personalized approach to managing relationship typologies that are altered based upon context, influential components, and key factors. Some of the key factors influencing the relationships are communication, awareness, knowledge, emotional handling, engagement, relational approach, trust, and relationship value chain. This study provides good evidence for the need for further exploration of the contextual angle of relationships in the private sector in similar relationship typologies. / Ph. D.

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