Interpersona (E-Journal - PsychOpen)
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Measuring Romantic Competence in Young Adults: The Inventory of Romantic Relationship Competence
No full textThis article presents psychometric data for a 35-item self-report instrument measuring romantic relationship competence in two separate samples of young adult college students. In study 1 (N = 219), results from Parallel Analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) suggested the extraction of seven domains of romantic relationship competence: relationship locus of control, perspective taking, intimacy avoidance, emotion regulation, romantic appeal, conflict resolution skills, and temperament. In study 2 (N = 907), a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) provided support for the aforementioned factor structure albeit with minor revisions (i.e., correlated errors between three pairs of items). MIMIC modeling results provided support for partial measurement invariance across gender. A CFA-based method of estimating scale reliability demonstrated acceptable to good reliability indices. Bivariate correlations with other social competence and self-esteem measures provided support for convergent and divergent validity. An excel-based applet is available to readers who are interested in using the 35-item IRRC with individual respondents (e.g., practitioners). Researchers interested in using the measure within the context of structural equation modeling should model relevant non-invariant parameters before proceeding with the evaluation of structural parameters. This instrument demonstrates promise as an instrument for measuring domains of romantic relationship competence within the emerging adult population
Learning How to Work in Multicultural Teams: Students’ Insights on Internationalization-at-Home Activities
No full textInternationalization-at-home activities present relevant opportunities for innovation in the teaching-learning process. These activities provide a very broad set of advantages, including the development of soft skills and increased motivation of students. This article aims to contribute to the debate on internationalization of higher education institutions by exploring students’ perceptions and experiences after participating in an international collaboration project involving 153 students in 5 universities in Germany, Mexico, Portugal, Scotland and the United States of America during the Fall/Winter semester 2017. The focus of this study is students’ satisfaction and perceptions. Results demonstrate that although students found the idea of collaborating with peers from other universities very appealing, high levels of satisfaction depended on commitment, both their own and that of their peers. The feelings during the project were predominantly positive, although students recognized that they should have communicated more with their partners and put more effort in the collaboration. This article provides useful evidence for instructors that are considering an international collaboration activity for their students. It demonstrates the deliverables of such initiatives as well as the clear advantage gained by receiving students’ feedback. Hopefully it will inspire other instructors and contribute to the diffusion of international collaboration as a teaching-learning practice
Dyadic Adjustment in Couples: How Partners' Social Value Within Couple and Emotional Competences Predict It
No full textKnowing the determinants of couple adjustment is a challenge, both for predicting this adjustment and for helping couples in therapy in the best possible way. We based this study on the Person’s Social Value Theory (Beauvois, J.-L. [1976]. The topic of social conduct evaluation. Connexions, 19, 7-30) which postulates that two dimensions – social utility and social desirability – support self- and other- descriptions. This study aimed to evaluate the way the evaluation of own social value within couple and the evaluation of social value within couple of the partner influence the dyadic adjustment of the spouses. In addition, we took into account the duration of the couples and the emotional competences of the spouses (using the PEC). Participants were the spouses of 152 voluntary heterosexual couples who completed a booklet of questionnaires. The results showed that the two dimensions of person’s social value within couple influence partners' dyadic adjustment but in a different way for men and women and according to the duration of the couples’ relationship. Furthermore, the effect of social value within couple seems to cover partially the classic effect of emotional competences on couple experience and satisfaction. The discussion underlines the relevance and interest of using the social value within the couple in the study of conjugal relationships as well as in counselling couples
Spouses’ Perceptions of Network Interference in the Early Years of Marriage
No full textIn early marriage, couples are intricately tied to their social networks and are influenced by important connections, social interactions, and socialization processes within those networks. Most of the research on the links between social networks and marital processes has focused on the positive effects or support married couples receive from their friends and family. The present study examined the links between perceptions of interference from family and friends and newlyweds’ reports of marital well-being in the early years of marriage. The contexts of both gender and race were explored to gain a better understanding of how interference from family and friends might be linked to marital well-being. Data from Black American and White American couples in their early years of marriage were analyzed. The findings revealed that perceptions of interference from friends were negatively associated with marital well-being for both Black American and White American wives. Husbands’ perceptions of interference from their wives’ friends were negatively linked to marital well-being, but only for Black American husbands. We offer several explanations for the differential links between perceptions of interference and marital well-being, including the role of relationships in self-identity and the negative spillover effect of external stressors
The Moderating Role of Gender in Siblings of Adults With Intellectual Disabilities
No full textSiblings play an important role in psychological and relational development in the lifecycle, especially if the family includes brothers or sisters with intellectual disability. The main objective of this study was to examine whether the relationships experienced by siblings of people with intellectual disability (ID-sibs) and siblings of people with typical development (TD-sibs) influence their ways of coping with stress and anxiety level, with particular emphasis on gender differences. The participants were 187 adults, of whom 104 (55.6%) were females aged 18 to 76 years (M = 29.42; SD = 11.93). Of our sample, 51.9% (N = 97) had a sibling with an intellectual disability and 48.1% (N = 90) had a sibling with typical development. The participants completed a self-report questionnaire that assessed demographics, sibling-relationship quality, anxiety, and coping orientations to problems experienced. The results show that women report a higher quality of relationship with ID-sibs compared to men and to women who have TD-sibs. The results further indicate that women with ID-sibs had higher levels of anxiety and used Transcendent-Oriented coping strategies more frequently. Lastly, gender moderated the relation between relationship quality and coping strategies in diverse ways in the two groups considered. The implications of the overall results are that sibling-focused interventions should focus on improving negative sibling relationships in order to reduce the impact of difficulties on TD siblings of both genders and that the content and delivery framework of interventions should be shaped accordingly
Gender Role Conflict Model of Pastors’ Husbands at Batak Karo Protestant Church
No full textThis research aims to propose a gender role conflict model of GBKP (Protestant Batak Karo Church, Indonesia) pastors’ husbands with masculine ideology, marital adjustment, and self-esteem as mediators, using SEM-PLS (Structural Equation Model-Partial Least Squares). In order to measure gender-role conflict, the four-point gender-role conflict scale developed was used. The Male Role Norms Scale (MRNS) was used to measure masculine ideology, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) was used to measure marital adjustment and The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) was used to measure self-esteem. The subjects of this research were 79 pastors’ husbands at Batak Karo Protestant Church. From the five proposed hypotheses, two were accepted and three were rejected. The two accepted hypotheses were the effect of masculine ideology towards gender-role conflict and the effect of marital adjustment towards gender-role conflict. Meanwhile, the hypotheses of the effects of both masculine ideology and marital adjustment towards self-esteem, as well as the effect of self-esteem towards gender-role conflict were rejected
What’s Love Got to Do With It? Improving the Effect of Marriage Education
No full textMeta-analytic research on the effect of marriage and relationship education (MRE) over the past forty years has identified only a small overall effect size on relationship quality measures within experimental-design studies. In an effort to increase the effect size of marriage education, this study introduced a new educational objective and measure within an eight-session, group-format course. The curriculum focused on developing habits to increase feelings of romantic love as a way to improve marital adjustment (Four Gifts of Love Class, FGL). Eleven couples (N = 22) residing in the Philippines were randomly assigned to FGL (G1) or delayed FGL-control (G2). The results demonstrated a large effect size on measures of marital adjustment (d = 1.11, p < .01) and romantic love (d = 0.68, p < .05). In addition, after G2 completed FGL, their gains matched the gains of G1, and the gains were sustained at the three follow-up periods
Explaining How College-Aged Individuals Provide Information to Friends Experiencing Romantic Relational Uncertainty
No full textCollege-aged individuals report having difficulty deciding what and how much information to provide to friends, yet they often turn to one another for information when experiencing relational uncertainty in a romantic relationship. Given the central role friendships have in college-aged individuals’ lives, identifying ways to decrease the difficulty of providing information is necessary. By framing friends’ relational uncertainty conversations as an information management process, the information-provider’s cognitions and emotions are highlighted as factors likely influencing the information provided to friends requesting it to manage their relational uncertainty. In an online survey (N = 367), participants recalled their most recent conversation in which a friend requested information to help manage a romantic relational uncertainty. Results showed participants provided a greater amount, more accurate, and more positively valenced information to friends when participants had positive expected outcomes and greater efficacy assessments. However, anxiety had a small negative effect on expected outcomes, efficacy assessments, and the information provided. In addition to the theoretical contributions, results suggest that helping college-aged individuals focus on the positive outcomes of relational uncertainty conversations and improving their efficacy could help them be better information-providers to friends
The Relationship Satisfaction of Parents to Children With Congenital Heart Disease
No full textThe purpose of the research is to describe the marital satisfaction of parents with a child with congenital heart disease, and the factors associated with it. The data were collected using an electronic questionnaire from applicable parents (n = 104) via the website of the Finnish Association for Heart Children and Adults and a closed Facebook forum where such parents are members. Marital satisfaction was measured using the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction (EMS) scale. The data were analysed using statistical methods. The variables were described by frequencies, percentages, and dispersion measures (Md = median, Q1= lower quartile, Q3 = upper quartile). Associations between the background variables and relationship satisfaction were examined using Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskall-Wallis test. Most of the surveyed parents were quite satisfied with their relationships. Parental factors associated with marital satisfaction were the gender of the parent, current health situation, support received from the spouse, problems with the spouse, and remarkable changes in economic situation during last year. The age of the child with a congenital heart disease was a factor associated with marital satisfaction. The interaction skills of the parents must continue to be supported and strengthened, because good interpersonal skills increase marital satisfaction and help resolve the conflicts that may arise in a relationship
Three Pathways From Anger Dysregulation to Lower Social Status Among Chinese Boys
No full textDuring middle childhood, Chinese boys are particularly at risk to develop both externalizing (e.g., overt aggression) and internalizing behavioral problems (e.g., social withdrawal). A possible contributor to these problems is that boys cannot regulate their anger very well. Inability to manage anger may cause a particular social challenge for Chinese boys. Open expression of anger may be prohibited by prevailing Chinese cultural norms, because it emphasizes individuality over harmony. But anger is a socially disengaging emotion which works against social harmony. This situation requires Chinese boys to manage and express anger appropriately in social interactions. Based on the hierarchical model of social relationships and the three trends of human interactions, this study examined three pathways—aggression, social withdrawal, and sociability-leadership—that lead from Chinese boys’ anger dysregulation to their lower social status among peers at school. Participants of this study were 267 boys in Grades 3-6 from an elementary school in urban China. A self-report questionnaire of anger dysregulation was used to evaluate how often Chinese boys express their anger in dysregulated ways (e.g., attacking things or people). Peer nominations were used to measure children’s overt aggression (moving against peers), social withdrawal (moving away from peers), and sociability-leadership (moving toward peers). Social status was assessed by a sociometric measure which evaluates the degree to which children were liked by their classmates. Results showed that boys’ anger dysregulation was negatively associated with their social status. Moreover, aggression, social withdrawal, and social skills fully mediated this association. This study enriches our understanding of the mechanisms linking anger dysregulation to lower social status and provides practical implications to help Chinese boys improve social and emotional functioning in middle childhood