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Master of Science / Department of Marriage and Family Therapy / Amber Vennum / The majority of scholarship on romantic relationship development in emerging adulthood is with Western populations using theories grounded in a Western cultural context. This study had two goals. The first goal was to explore the experience of non-arranged romantic relationships for young people in urban India through in-depth interviews with four men and four women. The second was to examine the relevance of Western notions of emerging adulthood, romantic relationship development, and theoretical constructs related to relationship development (e.g., terms such as ‘dating’, ‘commitment’ and ‘satisfaction’) for this population. Findings indicated one potential pathway to relationship formation that begins in friendship and gradually evolves into a romantic relationship. Other findings shed light on young adults’ culturally bound negotiation with their families around the issue of romantic relationships and the similarities in definitions of relationship terms with Western literature. This study makes important contributions to the growing field of romantic relationships in emerging adulthood by suggesting that, first, while Indian youth display several characteristics of emerging adulthood and define commitment similarly as in the West, there are important differences too. Second it has implications for future quantitative measurement of romantic relationships among Indian young adults.

Previous research has consistently demonstrated the “inter-generational transmission of divorce.” In comparison to the patterns seen in families with continuously married parents, young adults who experienced their parents’ divorce during childhood are more likely to consider leaving their own romantic partners, including spouses, when medium to low levels of satisfaction are felt. To contextualize under what circumstances and how young adults may be influenced by their perceptions of these family-of-origin dynamics, the present study explored young women’s narratives about their parents’ romantic relationships and another observable romantic relationship in their environment. These narratives included a general description of the romantic relationships, and queried perceptions of efforts invested by the parents in their relationship. Young women were also asked to clarify their expectations regarding how much effort is appropriate in romantic relationships. Twenty-two young women were interviewed and their narratives were analyzed using Charmaz (2006)’s grounded theory approach. Participants were active agents in the creation of meaning about their parents’ romantic relationship and their parents’ divorce. Their narratives were complex, sometimes paradoxical, and suggested participants understood some of the dynamics in their parents’ romantic relationships. The themes, which emerged from the perceptions of their parents’ romantic relationships, their parents’ mistakes and what they felt they have learned from witnessing their parents’ romantic relationships, provided several avenues of interest for future research and clinical practice. / Graduate / 0621 / 0620 / 0451

My goal was to examine how experiences and behaviors of individuals and their romantic partners impact relationships on a daily basis. I conducted three separate but empirically and conceptually related studies. For all three papers, the sample was both members of heterosexual romantic relationships (N = 164 couples, 328 individuals) who completed measures each day for seven days. The papers were informed by tenets from interdependence theory and the conservation of resources model. The main purpose of the first paper was to examine a set of relational constructs (i.e., satisfaction, commitment, closeness, conflict, ambivalence, maintenance, and love) to determine which constructs fluctuated daily. All seven relational constructs showed significant within-person variability and were thus appropriate for further daily investigation. With this information, the next step was to understand how to foster positive relationships by examining what daily experiences were associated with those fluctuations. In the second paper I examined whether daily hassles and uplifts were associated with same-day and next-day feelings about the relationship. For same-day effects, I found that hassles were associated with decreased positivity and increased negativity about relationships, whereas uplifts were largely associated with increased positivity. I also found interactions between hassles and uplifts, suggestive of "blunting" effects whereby the positive effects of uplifts were nullified by high levels of hassles. For the next-day effects, I unexpectedly found that uplifts were associated with <italic>decreased</italic> positive relational constructs on the next day, possibly indicating a return to homeostatic levels. In the third paper, I moved to a more explicit examination of dyadic processes by examining both actor and partner effects and focusing on the role of relational sacrifices, or the daily changes individuals make for the sake of their romantic parnters. I expected that sacrifices would be beneficial for positive relationship quality, particularly on days characterized by low (versus high) hassles. I found support for these expectations with regards to actor, but not partner effects. Overall implications are that the everyday things that individuals experience (e.g., hassles and uplifts) and enact (e.g., sacrifices) are important considerations in fostering less negative and more positive romantic relationships.

The relationship between adult attachment style and romantic relationship quality in marriage relationships was explored. Romantic relationship quality was measured at the working model (or perceptual) and the behavioral levels. No previous research had investigated romantic relationship quality as reflecting specific attachment related perceptions of self and spouse or as attachment related behaviors. Two hundred and six married subjects were recruited from university campuses, churches, and on an individual basis. Most of the subjects were white, middle class, and had children. Subjects completed self-report questionnaires measuring adult attachment style, working model of self and romantic partner, and reports of relationship behaviors of self and romantic partner. The first hypothesis proposed that attachment style differences would be seen in specific attachment related working models of self and romantic partner. The second hypothesis proposed that attachment style differences would be seen in reports of attachment related behaviors for self and romantic partner. Hypotheses were tested using multivariate analysis of variance.

Master of Arts / Department of Communication Studies, Theatre, and Dance / Charles Griffin / Interpersonal hurt in romantic relationships describes many every day interactions couples have. However, these instances of hurt are difficult to identify, talk about, and react to, making the study of such interactions immensely difficult as well. This in-depth literature review of current scholarly work is compiled in an effort to provide groundwork for understanding what hurt is, how individuals conceptualize the hurt they feel, and the coping strategies used to overcome what some scholars call a communicative and social phenomenon. Further, a discussion of future avenues of research and the implications of an expansion on the current research aims to guide future scholars to better understand what so many scholars are attempting to get a handle on.

The negative health consequences of dieting for individuals are well established. Yet little is known about the interpersonal consequences of dieting for romantic couples. This study utilized self-report questionnaire data from undergraduate students (N = 221) and their romantic partners (N = 74) to examine whether dieting is associated with romantic relationship processes. I hypothesized that dieting engagement would indirectly predict worse relationship outcomes. Body dissatisfaction is a core dimension of self-esteem, and people with low self-esteem often project their self-doubts onto their partner. Because dieting is strongly associated with body dissatisfaction, I hypothesized that people who engaged in more extreme dieting may project their negative self-evaluations of their bodies onto their partners, resulting in negative evaluations of their romantic partner’s attractiveness. Moreover, I expected that negative partner evaluations would predict worse relationship outcomes for both partners. As hypothesized, participants who engaged in more dieting (e.g., restricting food intake, feeling guilty after eating, compensatory behaviors) experienced higher body dissatisfaction, which predicted more negative evaluations of their romantic partner’s physical attractiveness. In turn, finding their partner less attractive predicted more negative evaluations of their partner’s worth, increased conflict, and lower commitment to their relationship. Moreover, romantic partners who were rated as less attractive perceived participants’ negative evaluations of their attractiveness, and experienced lower self-esteem. However, participant dieting did not predict relationship outcomes for their romantic partners. Overall, results indicate that dieting is negatively associated with both individual and interpersonal well-being. Findings must be replicated in longitudinal research, but highlight the potential for the negative consequences of dieting to extend beyond the individual to influence close relationship processes. This research also contradicts dominant models of dieting and close relationships that frame dieting in a positive light. / Graduate / 2020-08-15

Distance from a partner can put a strain on romantic relationships, especially when one is surrounded by attractive alternatives, as is often the case when moving away to college. Long distance relationships are often associated with increased stress, less relationship stability, and lower levels of relationship satisfaction. Distance may also be associated with cheating on one's romantic partner. The few studies that have examined cheating behavior in college students have found an increase in cheating over a very short, non-representative interval of time when partners were separated (e.g. spring break) but did not control for important variables such as alcohol use or relationship satisfaction. We were interested in determining if these effects could be replicated over a longer, more representative period of time (a full college semester). We examined whether distance predicted cheating among college students in committed relationships while accounting for relationship satisfaction and binge drinking, variables likely to play a role in cheating behavior. Using a large, aggregated sample (N=1,333) of college students in exclusive dating relationships, 10% percent of respondents reported physical cheating, 15% reported emotional cheating, and 6% reported both. Being 11-200 miles from a romantic partner was associated with a 31% increased likelihood of physical cheating compared to those in the same city as their partner. However, being 200+ miles from a romantic partner was associated with a slight reduction in the likelihood of physical cheating. There were no significant difference in the rates of cheating between men and women in our sample; however, these effects were moderated by gender such that distance was only related to an increased likelihood of physical cheating for women. For emotional cheating, distance was associated with an increased likelihood of cheating for both men and women. These results suggest that there is a distance danger zone for college students. Being in the same town and being very far away are associated with less likelihood of physical or emotional cheating than being in a middle zone in which your partner is around 100 miles away. Perhaps because those who have chosen to continue a relationship while living across the country are very committed to their partner, whereas living within driving distance but not the same city creates conditions that make cheating more likely.

Divorce rates have consistently risen over the past several decades along with the subsequent increase in parental alienation occurring after the breakup of the family. Parental alienation has long-term negative effects on children who have experienced it, including mental health issues, increased risk of substance abuse, lower levels of self-sufficiency, and decreased physical health. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study was to determine whether alienation from a parent during childhood impacts the quality of adult romantic and marital relationships of the children when they become adults. The Bowen family systems theory and theory of attachment were used as the framework for the study. A convenience sample included 170 adult participants over the age of 18 who were either married or involved in a dating relationship who had parents that divorced during their childhood between the individual's birth and the age of 14. The results from multiple regression analyses indicated that alienation from father was a significant predictor of marital or dating relationship quality, and alienation from mother was a significant predictor of relationship happiness, satisfaction, and quality. As alienation from father or mother scores increased, the criterion variable scores decreased. Anxious attachment was also a significant predictor of relationship satisfaction as higher scores on anxious attachment resulted in lower relationship satisfaction scores. These findings have positive social change implications as practitioners may use the results to help individuals better understand their relationships and identify the negative lasting effects of parental alienation in adult relationships.