Consistently researchers have demonstrated that marital interactions of couples with and without a depressed partner differ. Given the high comorbidity of depression and marital distress, it is unclear whether observed communication patterns are due to marital distress or depression. Recent investigations suggest that, after controlling for marital satisfaction, marital communication behaviours may not be specific to depression. However, depressed groups in these investigations may have consisted of individuals with a wide range of acute mood states, thus minimizing differences between depressed and non-depressed mood states. Consistent with cognitive vulnerability models of depression, depressed individuals’ dysfunctional behaviours may manifest only during negative mood states. The first purpose of the present study was to use a mood induction procedure (MIP) to examine whether any marital communication were specific to depression, after controlling for marital satisfaction. The second purpose of the study was to examine whether communication behaviours predicted depressive symptoms at 6-month follow-up. The hypotheses were tested in a sample of 69 couples characterized by a wide range of wife depressive symptoms and couple marital satisfaction. Results of the current study showed that women who endorsed higher depressive symptoms were more likely to use high-level negative demands (e.g., use of angry, belligerent tone) and indirect demands (e.g., use of flirting, whining, or nagging tone) after they received a sad MIP, but depressive symptoms were not related to these behaviours when there was no MIP. Interestingly, depressive symptoms were positively correlated with low-level negative demands (attempts to influence one’s partner in a frustrated, defensive manner) regardless of whether or not wives received a sad MIP. Results also showed that when wives were induced with a sad mood, husbands of wives who endorsed higher levels of depressive symptoms engaged in more positive demands (e.g., use of warmth and understanding). Additionally, preliminary longitudinal data suggest that, wives who engaged in higher levels of high-level negative demands report lower levels of subsequent depressive symptoms. These findings are discussed in light of interpersonal theories of depression. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2007-09-28 09:52:59.682

In the field of marketing, there is anecdotal evidence that “respect” is an important determinant of marketing relationship success (e.g., Berry 1996; Bitran and Hoech 1990; Costley, Friend, and Babis 2005). The current relational paradigm that guides much of marketing research, thinking, and practice implies that marketing involves not only exchange between organizations and customers, but also relationships between people. Given this context, individual-level relationship variables such as respect become important to our understanding of relationship marketing as a whole. Yet, in marketing and in other relevant fields (e.g., social and organizational psychology, ethics, education), there is no agreement as to how respect should be defined, and there is no measure that captures the complexity of this construct. In order to gain a more complete understanding of the reasons why certain marketing relationships succeed or fail, it is important to investigate the role of respect. The purpose of this research is to gain an understanding of (1) what respect means in the context of business-to-business marketing relationships, and (2) how respect impacts on the outcomes of those relationships. Following an extensive review of literature from a number of fields, the empirical research took place over four studies. In the first study, seventeen elite (in-depth) interviews were conducted with marketing practitioners. The goal of the interviews was to come to a more complete understanding of the importance of respect, its definition and dimensionality, its key features, and its role in the success of marketing relationships. As a result of these seventeen interviews, a preliminary model of respect was developed. In the second study, five additional marketing practitioners were interviewed in order to gain feedback on the proposed model of respect. Study 3 was aimed at developing a measure of respect to be included in later model testing; a key activity in this phase was an expert analysis of respect items. This research culminated in study 4, where the model of respect was tested via an experiment involving 114 business and marketing practitioners. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-30 17:35:08.487

Integrating research on attachment anxiety, rejection, self-regulation and health behaviours, I investigated the interactive effect of attachment anxiety and relationship threat on self-regulation. I hypothesized that self-regulation would decrease following a threat to one’s romantic relationship. Moreover, I expected that this association would be moderated by attachment anxiety, such that it would be stronger for individuals high, relative to low, in attachment anxiety. In three laboratory experiments, relationship threat was made salient and participants were given the opportunity to consume snack foods. In a non-experimental diary study, participants’ relationship stress and health behaviours were measured for a period of seven days. The results for Study 1 indicated that women, but not men, high in attachment anxiety experienced self-regulation failure (i.e., ate more jelly beans) when relationship threat was elicited. In contrast, although women low in attachment anxiety demonstrated the same pattern, it was attenuated and non-significant. Study 2 was designed to replicate the findings from Study 1 using a more powerful relationship threat manipulation that I hoped would cause a consistent pattern for both genders. Contrary to hypotheses, both men and women high in attachment anxiety experienced increased self-regulation (i.e., ate fewer brownie pieces) in the experimental, compared to the control, condition. One important difference between these studies was the presence of the partner in the laboratory in Study 2. I hypothesized that this might account for the discrepant findings between these studies and designed Study 3 accordingly, such that participants either participated alone or with their partners. Unfortunately, this study did not reconcile the discrepancies between the first two studies: Only a main effect of relationship threat on number of jelly beans consumed emerged. For Study 4, individuals completed questionnaires for seven days that assessed how fluctuations in relationship stress interacted with attachment anxiety to affect health outcomes. Analyses of the same-day and lagged effects demonstrated several significant interactions consistent with the hypotheses. These four studies provide initial evidence for the interactive effect between attachment anxiety and relationship stress on health outcomes and well-being. Although the findings were inconsistent, two of the studies provided support for my hypotheses. / Thesis (Ph.D, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2010-08-17 21:23:46.461

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Although more than 2500 articles published since 1970 deal with facial attractiveness, few have addressed whether characteristics of the beholder might influence such judgments. The present study considers whether misattribution and/or distraction contribute to a hypothesized change in males' ratings of female facial attractiveness when state anxiety is increased. Results obtained were consistent with distraction theory but were also interpretable through an alternative misattribution explanation. Participant relationship status was also found to be a significant predictor of attractiveness ratings and suggested the possibility that relationship status might interact with state anxiety to uniquely influence males’ attractiveness ratings for female faces. Implications and applications of these findings are discussed for clinical, social, and developmental psychology and recommendations given for future research into this and related phenomena.

Women’s narratives of their lived experience when love and abuse co-exist in intimate partner relationships, provide insight into the ways that their action for safety is impacted by their beliefs about love, the micro-politics of these relationships, and the macro-politics of the structural inequalities that constrain these relationships. Women’s vulnerability to abuse is increased and their access to safety limited by a belief in love as a promise, the dominant romance narratives including the fairy tale and dark romance narratives, by the practice of love with the two core conditions that support abuse, and by the social structures and institutions of society that constrain these relationships. Understanding the impact of how love is practiced, the dominant narratives of love and abuse, and the ways that social structures and institutions constrain women when love and abuse co-exist will enhance women’s access to safety and social work services.

Risken att drabbas av demens ökar med stigande ålder. Antalet demenssjuka kommer att öka beroende på att befolkningen blir allt äldre. I och med detta ökar även antalet anhöriga som har en viktig roll i vården av den sjuke. I Sverige finns det ca 1,3 miljoner personer som ger stöd eller vård till närstående regelbundet. Demens är en diagnos för en rad symtom, med bland annat sviktande minne och nedsättning av andra kognitiva funktioner, vilket i sin tur har allvarliga konsekvenser för individer, familjer och hälso- sjukvårdssystem. De vanligaste formerna av demens är Alzheimers sjukdom, vaskulär demens och frontallobsdemens. En demenssjukdom medför ofta en stor fysisk, psykisk och social påfrestning. Syftet med litteraturstudien var att belysa anhörigvårdares upplevelse av att leva med en närstående som drabbats av demens. Studien baseras på nio kvalitativa och två kvantitativa artiklar. Analysen resulterade i tre huvudkategorier: "Upplevelse av förändrad relation", "Upplevelse av förändrad vardag" och "Upplevelse av stödbehov". I resultatet framkom det att anhöriga upplevde en rollförändring vilket påverkade såväl relationer som anhörigas hälsa. Upplevelser av ensamhet, bundenhet och isolering var stor samt känslan av att förlora kontrollen över sitt liv. Resultatet visar även på att anhöriga kan uppleva meningsfullhet i vårdandet. Personen med demens blir ofta allt mer beroende av familjemedlemmars stöd för att klara sin dagliga livsföring. Anhöriga behöver i sin tur stöd för att hantera vardagen och för att öka känslan av trygghet i deras omsorgssituation. En sjuksköterska behöver goda grundläggande kunskaper om den kliniska bilden och symtomatologi av kognitiv nedgång för att kunna ge anhöriga värdefulla råd och information.

Problem: Family-owned and –managed businesses constitute the majority of organizations worldwide. Yet, although, because of their  special enmeshment of family and business spheres, conflicts constitute a central threat to those types of organizations, not much has been done to study this phenomenon specifically in a family business context. Minding the actuality that especially the family related factors that contribute to the occurrence of role and relationship conflicts within family firms remain understudied, this thesis will take an emotional ownership perspective to examine the phenomenon from a different angle. Purpose: To advance the general understanding of role and relationship conflicts within a family business setting, the purpose of this thesis is to determine the role emotional ownership plays in regard to role and relationship conflicts within family firms. Method: This qualitative study utilizes a case study strategy including a total of six case companies and eight research respondents. Data is thereby collected from semi-structured interviews and documentary secondary data. The analysis of the empirical findings is conducted following a two-step process. First, the empirical findings of the distinct case companies are cross-analyzed. Then the emerging patterns are formulated into a general model. Conclusions: Family owners’/employees’ feelings of emotional ownership towards the firm do influence the occurrence/intensity of role and subsequent relationship conflicts within family firms. The exact nature and impact of this influence will however depend on a number of factors. Those factors include (i) the existence of rules and regulations to govern the separation of family- and work related roles within the family and the firm, (ii) family-related factors, like the existence of a “peacemaker” and/or “decider”, strong family cohesion and/or trust among the family and its members, as well as (iii) cultural factors such as “respect for the elders”.