Romantic Physical Affection and Relationship Satisfaction Across Romantic Relationship Stages

This study examined the association between relationship satisfaction and romantic physical affection across three stages of romantic relationships (casual dating, serious dating, committed) among 70 (40 men, 30 women) university students. Twenty-nine types of romantic physical affection were measured across frequency, initiation patterns, importance to relationship satisfaction and intimacy. Results suggest that relationship satisfaction is strongly correlated with the frequency of romantic physical affection, Significant differences in the frequency of physical affection were found between the casual dating stage and both the serious dating and committed stage. There were no significant gender differences in touch initiation patterns across the three relationship stages. Overall, there was a strong correlation (.729, p \u3c .001) between the perceived intimacy of various romantic physical affection types and their importance to relationship satisfaction

Intimacy, passion, commitment, physical affection and relationship stage as related to romantic relationship satisfaction

Scope and Method of Study: Quantitative Analysis utilizing Pearson correlation coefficients, Factor Analysis, MANOVA, and linear regression.Findings and Conclusions:The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between physical affection, intimacy, passion, commitment, romantic relationship stage (casual dating, serious dating, committed) and gender on romantic relationship satisfaction. Participants included 370 (122 men, 248 women) university students. By creating the Physical Affection Behavior-Rating Scale, participants were able to report frequency and initiation patterns for 25 physical affection types. An exploratory factor analysis indicated the presence of three physical affection factors: Hot, Warm, and Demonstrative.A linear regression confirmed that the three physical affection factors accounted for a significant portion of variance in relationship satisfaction. The combination of the physical affection factors and love factors (Intimacy, Passion, Commitment) explained an even greater portion of variance in romantic relationship satisfaction. A MANOVA found the presence of an interaction between gender and relationship stage for Hot physical affection. Conclusions and implications were discussed

AFFECTION AND RELATIONSHIP STAGE AS

ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my girlfriend Karen for being so patient and understanding of me while I wrote this dissertation. I would like to thank my parents for their help in proofreading and giving me ideas. I would like to thank my brother for his help. Thanks also to my sisters for their support. Thanks to Andrew Gulledge, Sammy Hartung, and Jeff Klibert for helping me. Special thanks to my chair, Dr. Carlozzi, for his help in shaping this project, as well as Diane Montgomery for her selfless help. Finally, I would like to thank my committee members for their suggestions and support