Interpersona (E-Journal - PsychOpen)
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321 research outputs found
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Mere Civility, or Genuine Forgiveness? Prosocial Consequences of Belief in Free Will
No full textRecent empirical findings suggest that greater belief in free will predicts positive behavioral outcomes, such as lowered aggression, decreased cheating, bettered work performance, and improved learning. To expand on this research, the current investigation re-examines the link between stronger belief in free will and pro-social behavior in the context of transgressions in interpersonal relationships. Taking into account that one’s philosophical beliefs can fluctuate in strength and across time, we conducted a daily diary survey of 85 undergraduates who reported interpersonal offenses for 14 days. Data were analyzed with a multi-level approach. We found that believing more strongly in free will was associated with greater decisional forgiveness, but was unrelated to emotional forgiveness. Higher levels of belief in scientific determinism, on the other hand, were related to greater emotional forgiveness. These relationships were not mediated by relationship attributions
Change in Physical Attraction in Early Romantic Relationships
No full textThe goal of our research was to study the changes in physical attraction during the early stages of romantic relationships. The longitudinal study explored the personality characteristics of a partner and relationship events affecting physical attraction of early (within the first year) romantic relationships. Participants completed an eight-week longitudinal rating of their attraction toward their romantic partner. Factor analysis revealed behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and physiological dimensions. The behavioral and emotional dimensions play the largest role in attraction among both genders, with cognitive dimension also affecting attraction in women. Personality characteristics of one’s partner are significant predictors of physical attraction for both men and women. However, events occurring in the relationship seem to be only reliable predictors for a women’s attraction
Factors Contributing to Personal Commitment in Chinese Interethnic Couples
No full textInterethnic relationships are increasingly common in many societies, yet interethnic couples have a higher divorce rate compared to intraethnic couples. Given these facts and the dearth of research, this study aimed to identify factors that contribute to couples’ commitment in interethnic relationships. This study investigated the personal commitment of Chinese interethnic couples in the United Kingdom and the United States. Specifically, whether love, dyadic adjustment and “couple cultural identity” (i.e. acculturation to the partner and couple’s similarity on individualism/collectivism) would predict personal commitment and whether each variable would account for unique variance in personal commitment of the participants. Thirty-seven Chinese/non-Chinese heterosexual couples participated in the study and significant relationships between love and personal commitment, dyadic adjustment and personal commitment were found. Also, couple cultural identity was important for women’s personal commitment. Multiple regression and structural equation modelling showed that partners in interethnic relationships defined personal commitment in different ways with men emphasizing love and dyadic adjustment, and women emphasizing love and acculturation to their partner. The discovery of the importance of couple cultural identity in contributing to personal commitment, besides love and dyadic adjustment, helps researchers to gain a greater understanding of such relationships and to extend the research on interethnic relationships
Negative Changes in a Couple’s Relationship After a Child’s Death
No full textThe purpose of this study was to describe negative changes in parents’ relationships following the death of their child. A request to join the study was presented to members of grief associations through email and websites. Additionally, data were gathered through closed internet-groups where parents who had experienced the death of their child were logged in (e.g. in Facebook). The study participants were mothers (n = 321) and fathers (n = 36) whose child had died. The data were analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis. As negative changes in their relationship following the death of their child, parents reported the following: problems caused by failing mental health, problems due to changes in identity, increased difficulty of emotional communication, and decreased sexual intimacy. In addition, decreased sense of togetherness, behaviour that damages the relationship, everyday life straining the relationship, and emotions straining the relationship. It is concluded that a child’s death brings many kinds of negative changes to the parents’ relationship. The changes manifest as problems in the parents’ interaction, their behaviour, and their emotional life. The results can be utilized in supporting the relationships of grieving parents, developing different kinds of support interventions, and in nursing education
Bonding and Bridging Social Capital in Step- and First-Time Families and the Issue of Family Boundaries
No full textDivorce and remarriage usually imply a redefinition of family boundaries, with consequences for the production and availability of social capital. This research shows that bonding and bridging social capitals are differentially made available by families. It first hypothesizes that bridging social capital is more likely to be developed in stepfamilies, and bonding social capital in first-time families. Second, the boundaries of family configurations are expected to vary within stepfamilies and within first-time families creating a diversity of family configurations within both structures. Third, in both cases, social capital is expected to depend on the ways in which their family boundaries are set up by individuals by including or excluding ex-partners, new partner's children, siblings, and other family ties. The study is based on a sample of 300 female respondents who have at least one child of their own between 5 and 13 years, 150 from a stepfamily structure and 150 from a first-time family structure. Social capital is empirically operationalized as perceived emotional support in family networks. The results show that individuals in first-time families more often develop bonding social capital and individuals in stepfamilies bridging social capital. In both cases, however, individuals in family configurations based on close blood and conjugal ties more frequently develop bonding social capital, whereas individuals in family configurations based on in-law, stepfamily or friendship ties are more likely to develop bridging social capital
Young Adult South African Daughters’ Perceptions of Paternal Involvement and Nurturance
No full textThis study aimed to assess current and retrospective levels of reported and desired paternal involvement experienced by young adult daughters, as well as current and retrospective levels of paternal nurturance. A sample of 89, female, third year South African Psychology students completed self-administered questionnaires, consisting of a biographical questionnaire, four Father Involvement Scales and two Nurturant Father Scales. Daughters reported their fathers as having been involved and nurturing while growing up. Although they indicated that they perceived fathers as somewhat less involved in young adulthood; they reported being satisfied with the level of father involvement. Daughters also reported high current paternal nurturance. The findings therefore indicate that a group of middle to upper middle-class South African daughters perceived their fathers as relatively involved in their lives and suggest that their fathers’ involvement extends beyond traditional father roles
Telling a Family Culture: Storytelling, Family Identity, and Cultural Membership
No full textThis study examines the role of public performance of private family identity through family storytelling. Using Narrative Performance Theory (Langellier & Peterson, 2006a), stories told as part of The Library of Congress’s StoryCorps project were analyzed for how families publicly told private family stories to identify themselves as a particular family as well as a culturally appropriate family in the modern United States. Five themes of cultural identity in family stories were identified. The study found that families largely focused on positive stories that portrayed the family as pro-social and happy. Negative stories focused on how the family overcame their adversities as a group. Laughter was used to minimize face-threatening stories. The construction of the group identity was framed in such a way as to connect the family group to a larger culture that values independence, self-reliance, and cohesion as a family group. The study concludes by arguing that more work should be done to understand how public and private communication in families shape our understanding of what it means to be a family
Socio-Demographic Predictors of Loneliness Across the Adult Life Span in Portugal
No full textLoneliness, a complex phenomenon, is experienced differently by people under diverse conditions. The factors influencing loneliness are numerous and may vary between cultures. The purpose of this study was to show socio-demographic factors contributing to loneliness in Portugal. The sample consisted of 3,144 participants with a mean age of 46.90 (SD = 22.56) and a range between 15 and 92 years. Loneliness was evaluated with the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1980). Age and marital status were significant predictors of loneliness. Loneliness increased with age, and divorced or windowed participants reported higher loneliness than single or married people. As expected, gender did not significantly contribute to loneliness. This work identified vulnerable people who are experiencing a perceived dissatisfaction with their social interactions that needs special attention. These vulnerable groups include the old, divorced and widowed. In particular, policy makers and other experts who work with old persons should promote interventions according to their needs
Sex Differences and Individual Differences in Human Facilitative and Preventive Courtship
No full textAlthough cooperative mating strategies have been observed in other species, the extent to which men and women act to facilitate the mating success of others has been under-researched, especially among unrelated individuals. The present study addressed this gap in knowledge by exploring potential sex differences and individual differences in attitudes toward facilitating and preventing friends’ mating among 256 heterosexual undergraduate men and women. Results showed that women were more likely than men to express attitudes toward preventing the sexuality of friends, whereas no sex difference existed in facilitative mating. For both men and women, positive reciprocity beliefs and high self-perceived mate-value predicted positive attitudes toward facilitative mating. Among women, preventive mating was predicted by low sociosexuality and high intrasexual (within-sex) competitiveness
Just Another Aspie/NT Love Story: A Narrative Inquiry Into Neurologically-Mixed Romantic Relationships
No full textThis paper explores the complexities, issues, and challenges of neurologically mixed romantic relationships; specifically focusing on relationships in which one partner is diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. Using a narrative approach to data drawn from online discussion boards, blogs, autobiographies, and research articles, the findings are presented in the form of a narrative reconstruction. Reconstructing data into a fictional, non-traceable format is a fruitful method of attending to the ethical and privacy issues inherent in online research. Starting with a discussion of autism and Asperger’s communication and traits, identity politics, and online community building, this article articulates some of the ways that neurological differences result in real differences in emotional needs, sensory perceptions, and ways of thinking and communicating in romantic relationships