This study explored predictors of relational maintenance behaviors within the context of friendships. Several theoretical frameworks were compared--equity theory, self-expansion theory, the relational turbulence model, and the interaction enjoyment approach. Participants included 371 young adults who completed online questionnaires concerning their perceptions of friendship maintenance behaviors with a close or casual friend. Results supported self-expansion theory, the relational turbulence model, and the interaction enjoyment approach as significant theoretical explanations of friendship maintenance behaviors. The central goal of this study was accomplished in that relational uncertainty and interaction enjoyment emerged as complementary, and even stronger, predictors of relational maintenance behaviors than the other theoretical explanations. Overall, interaction enjoyment was the strongest predictor of friendship maintenance. Conversely, the traditional equity approach received minimal support. The theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of these findings were discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TCU/oai:etd.tcu.edu:etd-08082013-093105 |
| Date | 08 August 2013 |
| Creators | Fearer, Katherine Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Andrew M Ledbetter, Paul Schrodt, Paul L Witt |
| Publisher | Texas Christian University |
| Source Sets | Texas Christian University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.tcu.edu/etdfiles/available/etd-08082013-093105/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to TCU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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