The focus of this study was to examine the influence of parental infidelity on college students' level of commitment in romantic relationships. Parental infidelity was assessed on three levels, young adults who were: (a) not aware of parental infidelity, (b) suspect parental infidelity, and (c) who are confident of parental infidelity. Maternal infidelity was compared with paternal infidelity. The influence of maternal/paternal infidelity on the level of trust in romantic relationships, dysfunctional relationship beliefs, and commitment in romantic relationships was also assessed. The sample consisted of 404 undergraduate college students who were surveyed at a large southeastern university. The respondents were asked to complete a survey consisting of demographic questions pertaining to the measurement of each variable. The instruments used were the Dyadic Trust Scale to assess level of interpersonal trust, Relationship Belief Inventory to assess level of dysfunctional romantic relationship beliefs, and the Commitment Inventory to assess the level of constraint and dedication commitment in a romantic relationship. Hypotheses were tested stating there would be no differences observed for levels of trust, dysfunctional beliefs, and commitment among the three levels of infidelity awareness. Four research questions regarding the relationship among the variables in this study for each of the three levels of infidelity awareness were also utilized. Hypotheses were addressed using a series of one-way analysis of variances. Research questions were addressed using multivariate analysis of variance, chi-square tests of independence, and hierarchical multiple regression. Results indicated there were no significant associations between parental infidelity and level of commitment in college students' relationships. However, this study revealed several gender differences such as a significant relationship among length of current relationship, length of longest relationship, and level of commitment for the women in this study. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2006. / October 27, 2006. / Trust in Relationships, Infidelity, Commitment, Parent Affair, College Relationships / Includes bibliographical references. / Carol A. Darling, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gary Peterson, Outside Committee Member; Robert E. Lee, Committee Member; Lenore McWey, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_182207 |
| Contributors | Greene, Kristen H. (authoraut), Darling, Carol A. (professor directing dissertation), Peterson, Gary (outside committee member), Lee, Robert E. (committee member), McWey, Lenore (committee member), Department of Family and Child Sciences (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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