The present research explores a novel construct of fear of being single, without a romantic partner. This research demonstrates that those who fear being single may lower their relationship standards without realizing it, even accounting for constructs typically examined in relationship research such as anxious attachment and neuroticism. Study 1 explored the content of people’s thoughts about being single. Studies 2A and 2B involved the development and validation of the Fear of Being Single scale. Study 2C provided preliminary support for the hypothesis that fear of being single predicts settling for less in ongoing relationships, showing that fear of being single predicted greater dependence on unsatisfying relationships. Studies 3A and 3B explored the predictive ability of fear of being single for self-reported dating standards. Across both samples, fear of being single was unrelated to self-reported standards for a mate, with the exception of consistently higher standards for parenting. However, Studies 4 and 5 explored romantic interest in targets that were manipulated to vary in responsiveness (both Studies 4 and 5) and physical attractiveness (Study 5 only). These studies found that fear of being single consistently predicted higher levels of romantic interest in less responsive and less attractive dating targets. Taken together, the present research suggests that fear of being single is a meaningful predictor of settling for less in relationships.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OTU.1807/36003 |
| Date | 13 August 2013 |
| Creators | Spielmann, Stephanie |
| Contributors | MacDonald, Geoff |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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