The association between differentiation of self and romantic relationship outcomes and the mediating role of communication behaviors

Master of ScienceSchool of Family Studies and Human ServicesJared R. AndersonThis study examined the association between level of differentiation of self on romantic relationship outcomes (i.e., attachment, relationship satisfaction, and gridlock) while, additionally, examining the possibility of communication (i.e., validation and withdrawal) as a mediator. Participants (N = 463) were recruited using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to complete an online survey and had to be in a committed romantic relationship to be eligible. After controlling for psychological distress, relationship length, and gender, the results indicated a significant and direct relationship between differentiation and relationship outcomes and an indirect relationship through validation and withdrawal. Specifically, differentiation was directly, negatively associated with gridlock (β = -16, p = .003), avoidant attachment (β = -.13, p = .032), and anxious attachment (β = -.51, p < .001). In addition to these direct associations, differentiation was also indirectly associated with gridlock and avoidant attachment through both validation and withdrawal. On the other hand, differentiation was only indirectly associated with relationship satisfaction through validation (β = .44, p < .001). Additionally, we tested an alternate model with attachment and differentiation as predictors of relationship satisfaction and gridlock, and, again, examined validation and withdrawal as mediators. Results indicated that our primary model was a slightly better fit to the data than this alternative model, supporting the idea that attachment can be seen not only as a predictor but also as a relationship outcome. These results suggest that differentiation might be usefully accessed through more overt communication behaviors, which in turn might be related to having desired relationship outcomes

The Role of Gender in Social Network Organization

The digital traces we leave behind when engaging with the modern world offer an interesting lens through which we study behavioral patterns as expression of gender. Although gender differentiation has been observed in a number of settings, the majority of studies focus on a single data stream in isolation. Here we use a dataset of high resolution data collected using mobile phones, as well as detailed questionnaires, to study gender differences in a large cohort. We consider mobility behavior and individual personality traits among a group of more than $800$ university students. We also investigate interactions among them expressed via person-to-person contacts, interactions on online social networks, and telecommunication. Thus, we are able to study the differences between male and female behavior captured through a multitude of channels for a single cohort. We find that while the two genders are similar in a number of aspects, there are robust deviations that include multiple facets of social interactions, suggesting the existence of inherent behavioral differences. Finally, we quantify how aspects of an individual's characteristics and social behavior reveals their gender by posing it as a classification problem. We ask: How well can we distinguish between male and female study participants based on behavior alone? Which behavioral features are most predictive

Verbal Response Modes in Action:Microrelationships as the Building Blocks of Relationship Role Dimensions

Dimensions of interpersonal relationships, such as attentiveness, directiveness, and presumptuousness, have typically been assessed through impressionistic ratings or by aggregate scores derived from coding of specific (e.g., verbal) behaviors. However, the meanings of these dimensions rest on the interpersonal microrelationships that are actually observed by the raters or coders. In this qualitative study, the way these global relationship qualities were built from microrelationships at the utterance level was examined in passages from one medical interaction. Applications of microrelationships to future communications research are suggested

Depression, Relationship Quality, and Couples’ Demand/Withdraw and Demand/Submit Sequential Interactions

This study investigated the associations among depression, relationship quality, and demand/withdraw and demand/submit behavior in couples’ conflict interactions. Two 10-min conflict interactions were coded for each couple (N = 97) using Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB; Benjamin, 1979a, 1987, 2000a). Depression was assessed categorically (via the presence of depressive disorders) and dimensionally (via symptom reports). Results revealed that relationship quality was negatively associated with demanding behavior, as well as receiving submissive or withdrawing behavior from one’s partner. Relationship quality was positively associated with withdrawal. Demanding behavior was positively associated with women’s depression symptoms but negatively associated with men’s depression symptoms. Sequential analysis revealed couples’ behavior was highly stable across time. Initiation of demand/withdraw and demand/submit sequences were negatively associated with partners’ relationship adjustment. Female demand/male withdraw was positively associated with men’s depression diagnosis. Results underscore the importance of sequential analysis when investigating associations among depression, relationship quality, and couples’ interpersonal behavior

Constant connection: College students’ smartphones attachment and close relationship attachments across domains

This study aims to conceptualize the way individuals, more notably college students and emerging adults, use their smartphones, applying an attachment framework. Recently, research has shifted from using vocabulary akin to addiction, and researchers are beginning to see similarities and consistencies in how individuals relate to their phones and how attachment was originally conceptualized in the infant-mother relationship. Moreover, research is moving away from considering attachment as categorical, and is instead considering it continuous, and as varying in domains from individual to individual. This research used a new assessment tool (the YAPS) to assess college students’ attachment to phones, their important relationship attachments (ECR-RS) and their perceived relationship quality (PRQC). Research found that though many important relationship domains, notably parents, were related to smartphone attachment; however, there was no relationship between smartphone attachment and perceived relationship quality or its constructs. Future research should aim to validate the biological attachment between humans and smartphones, as well as tease out any impact smartphones and our attachments to them may have on relationships and our perception and threshold of intimacy

A Web of Distortion: How Internet Use is Related to Cognitive Distortion, Personality Traits, and Relationship Dissatisfaction

Internet use is a growing trend among every segment of the population. There are many positive aspects of internet use, such as increased information sharing, communication, business opportunities, and education. However, excessive internet usage has been shown to have a number of deleterious effects on individuals, families, and relationships. Pathological internet use is a growing concern that can have numerous negative outcomes. This study has demonstrated the fact that specific types of internet use were associated with cognitive distortion, personality traits, and relationship satisfaction. Moreover, the number of hours of internet use by type was related to average, weekly, total number of hours of internet use. A difference was also found between users and nonusers of internet pornography. The findings from this study can be used to further develop screening instruments, inform clinical practice, and improve treatment guidelines so that individuals with pathological internet use can be identified and treated

'We agree and now everything goes my way': consensual sexual nonmonogamy, extradyadic sex, and relationship satisfaction

In sexually monogamous relationships (SMR), sociosexuality, or the predisposition to engage in extradyadic casual sex, is negatively associated with relationship outcomes. However, mutually consenting to sexually nonMR (SNMR) does not hinder relationship outcomes. Recent research has extended these findings to the phenomenon of online extradyadic sexual behavior. The aim of this study was to examine whether this sexual agreement moderates the association between sociosexuality and relationship satisfaction in a sample of romantically involved heterosexuals registered on a dating Web site directed at other romantically involved heterosexuals-Second Love. A sample of 329 Portuguese heterosexuals (66% men) aged 18-68 (M = 41.47, SD = 10.19) completed a web survey. A bootstrapped moderation analysis showed the expected negative association between sociosexuality and satisfaction, b=-0.18, p = 0.013. However, this was moderated by sexual agreement, b = 1.12, p < 0.001. While individuals in SMR showed the negative association, b(women) =-0.46, p < 0.001, b(men) = -0.67, p < 0.001, for those in SNMR the association between unrestricted sociosexuality and satisfaction was positive, b(women) = 0.63, p = 0.002, b(men) = 0.46, p = 0.006. Gender did not moderate these results. The current study suggests that dating Web sites for romantically involved heterosexuals are not necessarily negative for relationship outcomes as long as there is a consensual agreement for sexual nonmonogamy. This adds to the growing body of literature examining online sexual behavior and sexual infidelity.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Unwanted pursuit behavior after breakup: occurrence, risk factors, and gender differences

This study investigated unwanted pursuit behavior (UPB) perpetration in 631 adult ex-partners. UPB involves the unwanted pursuit of intimacy, a widespread and usually less severe form of stalking. The occurrence and various risk factors of UPB perpetration were examined, accounting for differences between male and female ex-partners and same- and opposite-gender ex-partners. Ex-partners showed on average five to six UPBs after their separation. Male and female and same- and opposite-gender ex-partners displayed an equal number of UPBs. The number of perpetrated UPBs was explained by breakup characteristics (ex-partner initiation of the breakup and rumination or cognitive preoccupation with the ex-partner), relationship characteristics (anxious attachment in the former relationship), and individual perpetrator characteristics (borderline traits and past delinquent behaviors). Rumination was a stronger predictor in female than male ex-partners. Borderline traits and anxious attachment positively predicted UPB perpetration in opposite-gender but not in same-gender ex-partners. Implications of these findings are discussed

Unraveling Social Media Effects:How the Intertwinement of Online Content and User Behaviors Guides Mental Health and Body Image

The rapid growth in popularity of social media platforms has fueled concerns about the possible negative effects of social media use on young people’s mental health and body image. To unravel social media effects, scholars argued that social media activities should be divided into active and passive social media use. It has been hypothesized that active social media use (i.e., creating content) leads to positive effects on mental health and body image, whereas passive social media (i.e., viewing content) leads to negative effects. In some cases, however, active social media use appeared to also lead to more negative feelings about oneself and one’s life, while passive social media use can lead to more positive feelings about these matters. Hence, the active-passive dichotomy seems a rough division that needs further specification. What types of content do young people post online, and what do they passively consume? And how does that affect their mental health and body image? To advance our knowledge and insights on these matters, the overarching goal of this dissertation was to investigate if, when, and how social media use affects young people’s mental health and body image. In Chapter 2, findings of a systematic literature review indicated that how social media use coincides with mental health and body image largely depends on the content of the self-presentation created or passively consumed. For example, sharing negative life events was generally linked to decreased subjective well-being. In contrast, sharing authentic self-presentations was linked with increased subjective well-being. The second study (Chapter 3) examined how ethno-racial identities may predispose differences in publicly posted selfies. Facial recognition was used to classify the selfie-takers’ ethno-racial identity on over 3000 publicly posted selfies. Findings revealed that individuals varying in ethno-racial identity generally differed in their online self-presentations. For example, Asian and Hispanic selfie-takers posted more of their context and less of themselves than black and white selfie-takers. The third study in this dissertation examined how the prevalence of posting and seeing different photo-types was linked with mental health and body image (Chapter 4). This study included more than 400 adolescents. Findings of this study indicated that, for example, posting more authentic photos of oneself is associated with higher levels of mental health, whereas posting edited photos is associated with more body shame. The last study examined the potential longer-term impact of social media use (Chapter 5). This study included more than 400 Japanese adolescents and more than 500 Dutch adolescents. The adolescents completed three online surveys, with one-month intervals in between. Findings of this study indicated that both a higher frequency of posting and being exposed to authentic photos can induce positive outcomes for mental health and body image, whereas both a higher frequency of posting and being exposed to edited photos of others was found to relate to negative outcomes. Results were, however, different between Dutch and Japanese adolescents. The results of the studies in this dissertation generally conclude that time-based approaches of social media use reflect an oversimplification to interpret the possible effects on mental health and body image. The findings of this dissertation all advocate that there is a need to apply an integrated content-specific and behavior-specific approach. Moreover, social media effects are conditional, meaning that social media effects cannot be attributed to all adolescents and may vary across cultural context. Hence, if and when social media impacts mental health and body image largely depends on how and why they use social media as well as the way they respond to their social media use