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Relationship maintenance represents an important understudied relational construct. Three studies were conducted to examine the correlates of relationship maintenance across five factors: positivity, openness, assurances, social networks, and sharing tasks. Study one is a meta-analytic review of the existing literature on relationship maintenance and its correlates. Studies two and three are empirical examinations of the predictors of and barriers to relationship maintenance enactment in same-sex couples using a variety of methodological and statistical approaches.Study one is a meta-analysis that focuses on synthesizing the existing literature on relationship maintenance and several relational outcomes including satisfaction, commitment, mutuality, liking, love, and relationship duration as well as gender differences in the enactment of maintenance behaviors. Results suggest that relationship maintenance and the first five correlates are positivity related and these effects are moderate to large in magnitude. Relationship duration was negatively related to three of the five relationship maintenance factors, positively related to social networks, and not related to sharing tasks. Additionally, women tend to perform slightly more maintenance behaviors than men.Study two examines the association between relationship maintenance and commitment using a cross-lagged, actor-partner interdependence model to assess the direction of this relationship among same-sex couples. A sample of 98 couples was measured over 14 days. Results show support for a causal pathway from commitment to relationship maintenance and do not support the opposite pathway. Support for this causal pathway was also demonstrated through the examination of cross-partner effects.Study three explores the potential barriers to relationship maintenance enactment. Daily conflict was examined as it predicts relationship maintenance behaviors and the moderational effects of constructive and destructive (demand-withdraw) communication styles were examined. Results illustrate a negative relationship between conflict and relationship maintenance suggesting that engaging in interpersonal conflict results in decreased relationship maintenance enactment. The detrimental influence of conflict was minimized, however, when couples utilized a constructive rather than destructive communication style. To the contrary, destructive communication styles enhanced the negative effects of conflict with the exception of the actor-demand, partner-withdraw pattern, which reduced the negative effect of conflict.

This daily diary study investigated the emotional experiences and relationship behaviors of married couples coping with the husband's Type 2 diabetes, and how those experiences and behaviors affected his blood glucose levels. Repeated measures multilevel models examined the effects of husbands' and wives' absolute levels of positive and negative emotional experiences, balance of positive to negative emotional experiences, absolute levels of positive and negative behaviors, and balance of positive to negative behaviors on husbands' glucose. Husbands' negative emotional experience and wives' positive balance of relationship behaviors predicted lower blood glucose levels. For husbands who were younger, in poorer general health, and whose wives were more satisfied with their marriage, husbands' positive emotional experience predicted lower blood glucose levels. For husbands in better general health, wives' reports of a higher balance of positive as opposed to negative emotional experience also predicted lower blood glucose levels. Overall, results indicate that positive emotional experience and a balance of emotional experience and relationship behavior that is predominantly positive predicts positive diabetes outcomes as measured by lower daily blood glucose levels.

Abstract Background: Micro-sized family businesses are facing great challenges in nowadays competitive markets. Marketing is one of the most essential fields if a company wants to suc-ceed. Traditional marketing reveal more and more disadvantages, with competition that is constantly rising, technological marketing methods that are breaking down geographical bur-dens and consumer markets that are getting more demanding. One way to step away from the traditional marketing patterns and differentiate is the implementation and usage of relation-ship marketing. As a novel strategic method, the focus shifts from the product to building a loyal customer relationship foundation. Purpose: Consequently the purpose of this thesis is to investigate which factors influence an implementation of relationship marketing in micro-size family businesses. Using a case study, we will investigate how the potential theories can be successfully translated into reality when using relationship marketing in micro family firms. For reaching this goal, we will mainly identify several influences that impact a relationship marketing implementation in micro family businesses. Method: The data used for our case study has been collected through email in-terviews. Using an abductive approach and a qualitative analysis we are investigating and analysing specific factors and their influence on relationship marketing in micro family busi-nesses, in particular Casa Canela. Although one case cannot act as a role model and offer generalisable suggestions on all micro sized family firms, it presents an interesting example of one case and we hope that the outcomes and results can offer a guideline and inspiration to other micro family businesses as well. Conclusion: All in all, this thesis suggests that relationship marketing can benefit micro-sized family businesses. Moreover, factors like the owner-managers, the location, the financial situation and long-term goals influence the implementation of this strategy. With the help of our case firm Casa Canela and the analysed factors, we concluded that relationship marketing can provide a solid foundation for a successful business performance in the long-run.

The hotel industry is highly competitive and the right knowledge about customer values and demands is essential to differentiate from competitors and gain sustainable competitive advantage. Implementing traditional marketing strategies is often no longer enough to achieve this goal. Relationship marketing has increasingly become more important, as this concept suggests more focus on retaining the customer and creating a win- win situation with a long- term perspective. In traditional marketing there is more focus on acquisition. Most importantly a good balance between acquisition and retention directed to the right segments is essential for future success. This thesis is a case- study of a single business in the hospitality industry and the company of interest is the Burke & Wills, a hotel situated in Toowoomba, a regional city in Queensland, Australia. The purpose is to explore how well Burke & Wills markets itself, looking closely at the strategies used and how these are implemented. I also wanted to investigate whether the hotel’s present acquisition- and retention efforts are suitably divided between the various segments. The final objective with this thesis is to identify any opportunities for improvements. The case- study consists of both a qualitative- and a quantitative approach. Two staff interviews were carried out and a survey in the form of a questionnaire was handed out to the customers of the hotel. The intention with this was to explore whether present marketing strategies are effective or not. I found that the management of Burke & Wills has little knowledge about how to best market the hotel both when it comes to acquisition- and retention efforts and to direct these to suitable segments. The company seems inadequate to identify and attract potential customers during quiet periods which results in a big loss of potential revenue. The survey shows that the company’s awareness of what the customer values as quality service is fairly good but might not be enough to prevent future loss of customers. As a result of this these customers may turn to competition for better service in the future. The majority of returning customers also state that they would value a more personalised approach from Burke & Wills. I draw the conclusion that there is a lack of interest in how to improve the marketing of the company. No surveys have been conducted in the last few years to get customers´ opinions. They take their position on the market for granted and even with new competition they chose to stay inactive. Focus on improvement should be a priority but it is not. I believe it is essential to, at this stage, employ a person with marketing experience to make the company stronger and to maximise the possibilities of the hotel.

Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att illustrera vilka faktorer som påverkar kundrelationer och hur ett företag bör gå tillväga för att förbättra dessa samt för att bevara sina kunder. Vi vill ge en illustration på hur en välorganiserad kundrelation kan framkallas. Uppsatsen är även en undersökning som kommer att framhäva Länsförsäkringarnas varianter av strategier och metoder inom kundrelation, detta kommer även att baseras ur kundens perspektiv. Det vitalaste kommer att handla om hur Länsförsäkringarna kan förbättra och utveckla detta.   Metod: Vi valde att använda oss av primärdata för att öka trovärdigheten genom enkätundersökning och intervjuer, våra sekundärdata användes för att ge stöd till den primäradatan med författares och forskares teorier. Sedan jämförde vi resultatet från intervjuerna och enkätundersökningen med vad teoretikerna anser för att se om det överensstämmer med resultatet.   Resultat & slutsats: Vi tycker att det har varit ett intresseväckande arbete att följa Länsförsäkringarnas tillvägagånssätt om hur de bemöter kunderna och relationen till dem. Verksamheten är ledande inom försäkringar men befinner sig i en konkurrenskraftig marknad. Därför är det viktigt att omhänderta sina kunder, särskilt de kunder som idag är missnöjda och som troligtvis inte har orkat byta försäkringsbolag. Det är dessa kunder som kan föra vidare det dåliga ryktet om företaget till nya potentiella kunder. Vi anser att företaget har en bristande kundrelation, detta har bekräftats med empiriska studier och med den sekundäradata. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Det finns många aspekter att analysera, som exempelvis; en djupgående studie om hur CRM implementeras och används av konkurrenterna (IF, Trygghansa och Folksam) samt i jämförelse med Länsförsäkringarna.   Uppsatsens bidrag: Detta arbete ger en verklighetssyn av Länsförsäkringarnas relationer till sina kunder och hur företaget skall förbättra detta samt utveckla personalens kompetens inom det berörda området.   Nyckelord och förkortningar: Lf = Länsförsäkringarna, Rm= Relationsmarknadsföring, Crm= Customer relationship management, Rm-tåget= Relationsmarknadsföringståget, E-CRM= Electronic customer relationship management, Kundnöjdhet, Kundrelationer, Kundlojalitet / Aim: The purpose of this essay is to ilustrate factors which influence customer relationship and how companies should improve and retain their customers.We want to show how an organized customer relationship can evoke. This essay is also an investigation which will bring out different variations of strategies and methods of customer relationship. This will also base on the customer experience. The most important thing is that the essay will give the readers answers on how the company Länsförsäkringarna can develop these strategies.   Method: We have chosen to use Primary data to increase the reliability threw interviews and questionnaire examination.We also used secondary data to provide support to the primary data.We compered the results from the interviews and questionnaire examination with professors and authors teories   Result and Conclusions We think that it has been an intresting work to follow Länsförsäkringarna strategies on how they aproach the customers and their relationship with them. Länsförsäkringarna are leaders in their business in insurance but their position in the market is very competitive. Therefore it is very important to take a good care of the cutomers, especially the customers who are not satisfied and don’t care to change to another incuranse company. They will surtenly spread a bad reputation about Länsförsäkringarna threw word of mouth to the new potential customers. In our opinion we think that Länsförsäkringarna have a bad relation to their customers and that have been confirmed by our empirical studies and with the help of secondary data.   Sugestion of future research There are many aspects to analyze, for example a deep going study about how to implement CRM and how it is used by competetors of Länsförsäkringarna, and also to compare the study with Länsförsäkringarna.   Contribution of the thesis This work gives a realitypicture of Länförsäkringarna:s relations to their customers and how the company shall develop their staff competence in customer relationship management.   Key words Lf = Länsförsäkringarna, Rm= Relationship marketing, Crm= Customer relationship management, Rm-tåget= Relationshipmarketing train, E-CRM= Electronic customer relationship management, Customer satisfaction, Customer relationship, Customer loyalty

The relationship between normative convictions, sexual behaviour and personality. In order to fill the gap of knowledge regarding sexuality in South Africa, the sexual attitudes and behaviour of 95 Afrikaans-speaking undergraduate psychology students were investigated by means of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, the Mosher Sex-Guilt subscale and a combined biographical and attitude questionnaire. The study concentrated on the relationship between normative convictions, personality factors and sexual behaviour. Most respondents reported a fair degree of intimacy in their relationships, while one third had already had premarital sexual experience. Although respondents expressed predominantly negative sexual attitudes, they expected men to be more promiscuous than women. No difference in males•and females• experience of intimacy in relationships and sexual experience could be indicated. Although the respondents were predominantly religious, the female respondents were more religiously inclined than the male respondents. The religious convictions of the respondents were strong enough to influence their sexual attitudes. On the behavioural level sexually inexperienced respondents were more involved with church activities and those with fewer sex partners also expressed strong religious convictions. No connection between the personality factor extraversion and any form of pro-sexuality could be indicated. Socially undesirable personality factors were, however, identified as predictors of positive sexual attitudes. Elements in Ajzen•s theory of reasoned behaviour correlated positively with sexual attitudes. This model was also found to be suitable for the prediction of sexual attitudes. The opinion of the father and members of the peer group, as well as the expectation of positive consequences, among others, was identified as predictors of positive attitudes while the opinion of the parson, grandparents and lecturers was rejected, Respondents with many sex partners not only expected positive consequences, but because of social sanctions they valued the reverend's opinion highly and expressed negative emotional set towards sexuality. Although Ajzen•s model often explained a high proportion of the variance in the dependent variables. it is clear that variables other than those included in this model, like sexual guilt, greatly contribute to the explanation of variance in both sexual attitudes and behaviour. / MA, PU vir CHO, 1992

The relationship between normative convictions, sexual behaviour and personality. In order to fill the gap of knowledge regarding sexuality in South Africa, the sexual attitudes and behaviour of 95 Afrikaans-speaking undergraduate psychology students were investigated by means of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, the Mosher Sex-Guilt subscale and a combined biographical and attitude questionnaire. The study concentrated on the relationship between normative convictions, personality factors and sexual behaviour. Most respondents reported a fair degree of intimacy in their relationships, while one third had already had premarital sexual experience. Although respondents expressed predominantly negative sexual attitudes, they expected men to be more promiscuous than women. No difference in males•and females• experience of intimacy in relationships and sexual experience could be indicated. Although the respondents were predominantly religious, the female respondents were more religiously inclined than the male respondents. The religious convictions of the respondents were strong enough to influence their sexual attitudes. On the behavioural level sexually inexperienced respondents were more involved with church activities and those with fewer sex partners also expressed strong religious convictions. No connection between the personality factor extraversion and any form of pro-sexuality could be indicated. Socially undesirable personality factors were, however, identified as predictors of positive sexual attitudes. Elements in Ajzen•s theory of reasoned behaviour correlated positively with sexual attitudes. This model was also found to be suitable for the prediction of sexual attitudes. The opinion of the father and members of the peer group, as well as the expectation of positive consequences, among others, was identified as predictors of positive attitudes while the opinion of the parson, grandparents and lecturers was rejected, Respondents with many sex partners not only expected positive consequences, but because of social sanctions they valued the reverend's opinion highly and expressed negative emotional set towards sexuality. Although Ajzen•s model often explained a high proportion of the variance in the dependent variables. it is clear that variables other than those included in this model, like sexual guilt, greatly contribute to the explanation of variance in both sexual attitudes and behaviour. / MA, PU vir CHO, 1992

Absence of stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1) in mice leads to chronic inflammation of the skin and increased susceptibility to atherosclerosis, while also increasing plasma inflammatory markers. A recent report suggested that SCD1 deficiency also increases disease severity in a mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease, induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS). However, SCD1-deficient mice are known to consume increased amounts of water, which would also be expected to increase the intake of DSS-treated water. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of SCD1 deficiency on DSS-induced acute colitis with DSS dosing adjusted to account for genotype differences in fluid consumption. Wild-type controls were treated with 3.5% DSS for 5 days to induce moderately severe colitis, while the concentration of DSS given to SCD1-deficient mice was lowered to 2.5% to control for increased fluid consumption. Colonic inflammation was assessed by clinical and histological scoring. Although SCD1-deficient mice consumed a total intake of DSS that was greater than that of wild-type controls, colonic inflammation, colon length and fecal blood were not altered by SCD1-deficiency in DSS-induced colitis, while diarrhea and total weight loss were modestly improved. Despite SCD1 deficiency leading to chronic inflammation of the skin and increased susceptibility to atherosclerosis, it does not accelerate inflammation in the DSS-induced model of acute colitis when DSS intake is controlled. These observations suggest that SCD1 deficiency does not play a significant role in colonic inflammation in this model. [The original version of this article, along with updated information and services is located on the World Wide Web at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbalip.2009.08.001]

The relationships between undergruond school children and their parents appears to be the presumsion for developing the humanism in the family. Master work coodinator: Dr. Kristina Stankevičienė. Pedagogical Uiversity of Vilnius. Social pedagogical departamental. Vilnius.2005 p.89 The main aim of investigation was to examine the relationships between underground school children and their parents, to discover how the humanism in the family is developed. Methods used during investigation: collection of L type diagnostic data (standard interview with children); collection of Q type diagnostic data (questionnaires given for parents and teachers). 60 children, 60 parents and 15 teachers from various underground schools participated in the investigation. According to the selected data and other resources it may be concluded that this work reveals the information concerning the underground school period children behavior in the family and how it may reflect their humanity in the future. If parents are sensitive extravert and try to create appropriate atmosphere than their children becomes human as well. Eventually the investigation showed that in such families as motioned before creates the perfect beginning for their children in the future life. To bring matter to the conclusion it may be said that parents have great influence for their children in the future especially in the period of underground school.