The present study explored the phenomenon of serial hurt – hurtful interactions between romantic partners that reoccur about the same topic or issue. In this investigation, a framework of serial hurt was offered, and a number of research questions and hypotheses were examined. The first goal of this study was to assess whether serial hurt was discernable from discrete hurt that occurred in a single, isolated instance. The second purpose of this project was to provide an initial exploration of serial hurt as it occurs in romantic relationships. A community sample of romantic partners (N = 203) completed a series of self-report questionnaires pertaining to either discrete or serial hurt in their current romantic relationships. Results indicated that romantic partners made sense of and responded to hurtful exchanges with their partner in distinct ways depending on the type of hurt experienced. Specifically, the results indicated that discrete hurt and serial hurt are experienced in unique ways by individuals, both cognitively and behaviorally. Further, descriptive, exploratory data on serial hurt provided insight into an alternative perspective for examining hurtful interactions in relationships. / text

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Historically, “playing hard-to-get” or unclearly expressing interest in a potential romantic partner has been regarded as an effective means to elicit a potential partner’s interest and attraction. This study examined the effects of gender and expressed interest (clear or unclear) on returned interest in potential long-term romantic partners. Male (N = 54) and female (N = 63) undergraduate students were administered a vignette, in which the person expressed either clear or unclear romantic interest in the participant. Results indicated that men were not influence by expressed interest in either condition. In contrast, women responded with significantly greater returned interest in the clearly-expressed interest condition than in the unclearly-expressed interest. This effect may be due to the greater assumed supportiveness and lower relative social-status of the person in the clearly-expressed interest vignette. Implications for gender differences in long-term partner preferences are discussed.

The mass media portrays traditional forms of marital status in contemporary films despite changing demographics. This thesis argues that romantic relationships are presented as a normative and significant part of completing a predetermined life course in adulthood. Specifically, recent films are entrenched with ideological messages regarding heterosexual marriage and fail to represent singles adequately. In Canadian society, legal marriage is becoming less frequent, common law relationships are increasing, family formations are more diverse, and individuals are happily choosing to be single. Therefore, it is crucial to explore if the media, a powerful socializing agent, communicates a preference for marriage by promoting the ideology of marriage. A content analysis was performed on nine top grossing films that were released in 2010. Overall, the findings demonstrate that regardless of changing demographics, the media privileges marriage and marginalizes singlehood. These films contribute to strengthening traditional ideologies of marriage and family and reinforce discrimination against singles.

Romantic relationships are considered to be the most important bonds established in adulthood (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007). Accordingly, extensive empirical efforts have been expended on delineating factors linked with couple satisfaction. Given the intricacies of these relational bonds, a plethora of studies have likewise focused on exploring the elaborate and explicit processes of close relationships. What emerged was one of the most prolific theories of close relationships: attachment theory. Despite the recognized and confirmed role of attachment processes in couple satisfaction (Feeney, Noller, & Hanrahan, 1994), studies have seldom examined how the relation between explicit relationship factors and couple satisfaction may differ as a function of an individual's romantic attachment. The understanding of the link between variables is often enhanced by understanding what limits or improves this relation, for instance, for whom or under which circumstances (Hayes & Matthes, 2009). Such theoretical accounts of an effect are frequently tested and strengthened by the examination of a moderator effect (a variable that impacts the strength or direction of a predictor and outcome variable; Baron & Kenny, 1986). Accordingly, the overarching aim of the thesis was to explore original moderation models examining whether the established relation between jealousy (article 1) or intimacy (article 2) and couple satisfaction, respectively, differs for individuals with distinct romantic attachment patterns (i.e., attachment anxiety versus avoidance). In this way, the goal was to not only implement novel explorations extending current knowledge of the aforementioned link between jealousy or intimacy and couple satisfaction, but moreover, highlight for whom such relations may differ. Explicitly, the main objective of the first article was to implement a unique model exploring the moderating role of romantic attachment on the relation between emotional, iv cognitive, and behavioural jealousy and couple satisfaction. The study comprised of a large university sample of individuals (N = 502) involved in a heterosexual relationship of at least 12 months duration. Given the view of emotional, cognitive, and behavioural jealousy as an interrelated process (Pheiffer & Wong, 1989), and the corresponding absence of a model examining all facets concurrently, a comprehensive model simultaneously incorporating all of the above mentioned facets of jealousy within one model was implemented. Additionally, provided the unexamined stipulation of jealousy as impacting the relationship satisfaction of both partners of a couple (De Silva & Marks, 1994), this study sought to incorporate a new line of research investigating both one's jealousy and one's perception of their partner's jealousy (emotional, cognitive, and behavioural) and the potentially differential relation with one's couple satisfaction. The exploration of hierarchical models revealed that cognitive jealousy was negatively associated with one's couple satisfaction, whereas emotional jealousy demonstrated a positive association; behavioural jealousy was not shown to add incremental value in one's couple satisfaction. All aforementioned results were applicable to both one's own and one's perception of their partner's jealousy for each respective facet. Results also revealed that romantic attachment influenced the strength of the relation between several facets of jealousy and couple satisfaction, with attachment anxiety mostly increasing and attachment avoidance either decreasing or not influencing this relation. As such, findings suggested that jealousy experiences (one's own or one's perception of their partner's) may have a more detrimental relation with one's couple satisfaction amongst individuals exhibiting higher attachment anxiety. The aim of the second study was to explore an original model examining the moderating role of romantic attachment on the relation between intimacy and couple satisfaction using a community sample of couples (N = 117) involved in a heterosexual relationship of at least 12 v months duration. Given that intimacy is viewed as a multifaceted process (Schaefer & Olson, 1981), the current study concurrently investigated both emotional and sexual facets of intimacy within one model. Additionally, given the view of intimacy as a dyadic process that must accommodate both partners (Reis & Shaver, 1981), an actor-partner interdependence model (APIM: Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006) using Linear Mixed Models (LML) was implemented in order to examine the relation between a participant's and their partner's emotional and sexual intimacy and one's couple satisfaction. Findings revealed that only actor and partner emotional intimacy were significantly and positively linked with actor couple satisfaction when examined concurrently with sexual intimacy; a larger amount of variance was revealed for actor versus partner effects. Results similarly showed that higher actor avoidant attachment moderated the former relation, such that a lessened positive association was demonstrated between actor emotional intimacy and actor couple satisfaction. Hence, findings suggested that the attainment of higher levels of emotional intimacy may be less pertinent for the satisfactory romantic relationship of individuals exhibiting higher attachment avoidance. No additional moderation effects of romantic attachment were found. The applied and clinical implications of both studies are discussed, such as the relevance of considering romantic attachment in ascertaining the link between particular relationship factors and couple satisfaction.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The major purpose of the research in this thesis is to add to the available knowledge on advanced violin playing of the Romantic Period by, firstly, investigating the historical and technical knowledge and, secondly, adding some of my own findings. The project consists of a thesis, five recordings of live performances by the candidate and a guide to those performances. The development of violin techniques in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the role of the instrument in expressing the musical ideals of the age were chosen to study because there is a general lack of literature on the subject written by players who have performed the music chosen by the researcher. Furthermore, studies of this literature have left some important questions unanswered. One such question concerned how the development of the violin allowed musicians to better express the music in that era. Another question is what kinds of techniques were developed and how they related to the expression of the music. The thesis includes a study of the historical background of the Romantic period, as well as instrument development in this period. Analyses are made of the music considering techniques only where they are new techniques which considers the expressive reasons lying behind the new styles of writing. Treatises, violin methods, as well as modern studies are examined and compared in order to determine the development of violin techniques specifically in the period. This study is an investigation of both the written literature and the experiences of playing Romantic violin pieces in five concert situations, conducted over a time span of four years. The first concert presented a programme of German composer Robert Schumann’s Violin Sonata No. 1 in A minor Op. 105; with French composer Camille Saint-Saёns’ Havanaise Op. 83; and also Fritz Kreisler-‘Pugnani’s’ Praeludium und Allegro. The second concert presented a programme of Schubert’s Sonata in A major Op. 162 and Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 2 in D major Op. 94a. The third concert presented a programme of Brahms’ Sonata No. 3 in D minor Op. 108 with Tchaikovsky’s Three Pieces Op. 42. It also included Ravel’s Tzigane. The fourth concert programme presented Beethoven’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D major Op. 70, commonly called “The Ghost”. The fifth concert presented a programme of Brahms’ Sonata No. 1 in G major Op. 78 and also the Sonata No. 2 in A major Op. 100. In addition his Sonatensatz (Scherzo) in C minor was performed. For each of these concerts, the researcher made written reports detailing the reasons behind the choice of each piece, the place of the piece in the context of the research and an examination of the effectiveness of the concert recital programme. The reports included notes on the mastery of the different new violin techniques required to play the piece with an historic awareness. As evidence of this, each concert was recorded onto compact disc audio format. The reports were used as a basis for the accompanying Guide to Performance. This is a work of critical analysis and aims to give a record of the progress of the research through performance. It documents the gradual discovery of how the historical theory can be realised in practice and provides a rationale for the techniques and strategies adopted in the creative component. The appendices include lists of repertoire and composers of the period, a chart of significant events from the period relating to the violin, and a chart of some of the key genealogical relationships in violin pedagogy. The investigation of violin techniques of Romanticism produced a number of major results. One important finding suggests that there are solutions to the difficult technical passages, which require an understanding of the historical context and literary background. In summary, this research produced findings which are of significance to violin educators and advanced violin students.

Inaug.-diss.--Leipzig. / Lebenslauf. Also published as heft 4 of Beiträge zur kultur- und universalgeschichte, hrsg. von K. Lamprecht.

For this thesis, my aim was to deconstruct the notion of heterosexual love in order to question if and how current stories of love are involved in producing gender inequality. Using discourse analysis, informed by feminist theory, I analysed, in detail, qualitative interviews with eleven women and eleven men about their most important intimate heterosexual relationships and their experiences of love. The traditional view of romantic love as a symbol of freedom and redemption has been challenged by feminist arguments that romantic love obscures male privilege in intimate heterosexual relationships. Mainstream social psychological research has tended to measure and categorize 'love' with little regard to wider historical and social contexts which means that the few in-depth explorations of the complex meanings of love are primarily sociological. Where some research has suggested that gender inequality may proceed from women's investment in romance and men's in emotional illiteracy (e.g. Jackson, 1993; Langford, 1999), others conceive that a wider democratization of social life is producing a shift to more rational and equitable intimate relationships (e.g. Giddens, 1992; Illouz, 1997). My findings demonstrate that talk of love is extremely complex while also cliched and inchoate. I identified two broad and pervasive discourses, in tension with each other - the discourse of romantic love and the work discourse of love and intimacy. The romantic discourse was inextricably inscribed with discourses of emotion where the work discourse was associated with doing rather than feeling. The work discourse allowed the male interviewees, in particular, to construct relationships as contexts for their own personal growth work and exercise of expertise. The democratization of heterosexual love may not be well underway if a shift to rational intimacy involves a transformation of romantic feeling into a narcissistic discourse of personal success. I also identified how male privilege was instantiated in discourses of infidelity.

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Jared A. Durtschi / Perceptions regarding the causes and intentions behind partner transgressions are often just as important as the transgressions themselves. Although mindfulness-based interventions have been useful in clinical work with couples, the potential role that mindfulness plays in attributions is unclear. Using a sample of 542 young adults in romantic relationships, I explored the direct and indirect associations among attachment, trait mindfulness, and attributions. Specifically, I conducted a latent profile analysis, a person-centered approach, through which I identified four latent classes of trait mindfulness, including a High Mindfulness class, a Nonjudgmentally Aware class, a Low Mindfulness class, and a Judgmentally Observing class. I then ran a path analysis and found a number of significant direct effects. For example, relative to membership in the Low Mindfulness, membership in the High Mindfulness class and the Nonjudgmentally Aware class were associated with more benign attributions. I also found two significant indirect effects. First, heightened attachment anxiety was associated with an decreased probability of being Nonjudgmentally Aware class relative to the Low Mindfulness class, which was inversely linked with benign attributions. Second, avoidant attachment was linked with a decreased probability of membership in the High Mindfulness class relative to the Low Mindfulness class, which was linked to a decrease in benign attributions. The clinical implications and areas for future research based on the findings of this study are discussed.

A thesis about the String Septet. The author explains that it deals with problems concerned in the reconciliation of contemporary aesthetics with extensions of romantic harmony, classical and pre-classical form, classical figuration and ornamentation, and contrapuntal organization.