ICPR Abstracts: Session 1

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Session 1: Daytime Posters

Sexuality and Aids

1.1
The Sexual Behavior of College Students:
Personality and Situational Influences

David A. Sbarra
Cornell University

This study examined personality and situational influences 
on the sexual behavior of college students.  Results 
replicate previous findings regarding the personality 
characteristics of individuals most likely to engage in 
high-risk sexual behavior.  In addition, evidence was 
found for a variety of situational influences, including 
opportunities for social interaction with potential sexual 
partners, alcohol consumption, and social group norms.  
The findings suggest that the influence of personality 
factors on sexual behavior is mediated by self-selection 
into situations that facilitate or inhibit such activity.  
Findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical as well 
as policy implications. 

1.2  
"Hook Ups": Characteristics and Correlates of 
Spontaneous and Anonymous Sexual Experiences 
Among Youth

Elizabeth L. Paul
Trenton State College

This study identifies and explores a common contemporary 
risky sexual behavior pattern among college students: 
"hook ups".  Hook ups are defined as a one-night sexual 
encounter (sometimes including sexual intercourse) 
between strangers or brief acquaintances.  Preliminary 
results from a study of 550 college students revealed a 
high rate of hook ups (80%; 35% including sexual 
intercourse).  Students report a mix of positive (attractive, 
self-confident) and negative (confused, hungover, used) 
feelings following hook ups.  Several significant correlates 
of hook up experience were found (low self-esteem, high 
harm- avoidance, high fear of intimacy, high alcohol use), 
providing clues to possible motivating and/or resulting 
factors.  Future directions for research on this common 
phenomenon will be offered.

1.3
Sexual Power Scripts: A Comparison Between
French-speaking Heterosexual and Homosexual Men

Joseph Lévy, Université  du Québec à  Montréal
Louis Robert-Frigault, Université  de Montréal
Joanne Otis and André  Dupras, 
Université  du Québec à  Montréal
Michel Perreault and Louise Labonté , 
Université  de Montréal
Michel Dorais, Université  du Québec à  Montréal

The characteristics of sexual power scripts, a group of 125 
homosexuals, aged between 18 and 30 years and having a 
college or university degree, have been compared to a 
group of 197 heterosexual university students of the same 
age. Among the nine items measuring the power scripts, 
four differences were present: heterosexuals were more 
equalitarian than homosexuals as to the choice of the place 
where to have sexual relations. The latter were more 
equalitarian for decisions concerning the way these 
relations will be directed. They were also more likely to 
report that they had sexual relations when they did not 
want to, while heterosexuals were more frequently trying 
to persuade their partner to have sexual relations. 

1.4
Understanding the Complexity of the Sexual 
Resistance Situation: Relational Intimacy, Relational 
Commitment and Initiator Directness as Predictors of 
Sexual Resistance Strategy Choice

Walid A. Afifi and Sandra Duemmler
University of Delaware

Several factors make attempts at resisting sexual activity a 
relatively common occurrence in many romantic 
relationships.  This investigation contributes to knowledge 
about sexual resistance strategies by (a) using Sternberg's 
Triangular Theory of Love and research on facework to 
argue that the resistor's sensitivity to relational and 
personal consequences of their resistance choice is 
dependent on the levels of relational commitment and 
intimacy and (b) relying on data regarding reciprocity in 
interactions to propose that the directness of the resistance 
will be mediated by the initiator's directness.  Data from 
123 participants generally confirm the predictions and 
reflect the complexity of the sexual resistance situation. 

1.5
Associations of Intimacy With Relationship Partners'
Attempts to Influence Health Behaviors

Michael R. Dennis
Purdue University

The present study explores the association of relationship 
intimacy between romantic partners with attempts to 
influence different types of commonly recognized 
"healthful" behaviors.  Participants will complete the 
PAIR emotional intimacy scale (Schaefer & Olson, 1981) 
and the Miller Social Intimacy Scale (Miller & Lefcourt, 
1982), as well as answer questionnaires that elicit 
information about their use, preference and anticipated 
effects of different interpersonal health behavior influence 
strategies within romantic relationships.  These will 
concern four behavioral specifics (changes in diet, 
cessation of smoking, adoption of/adherence to exercise 
programs, and condom usage) that are correlated to serious 
long-term illnesses (heart disease, cancers, HIV) which 
plague the U.S. today.  Analyses of the association 
between relationship intimacy and types of interpersonal 
appeals found effective are anticipated to define 
compliance-gaining strategies that informed parties can 
utilize to influence their partners.

1.6
Getting to Know Someone Who's HIV Positive: 
Impact of Sexual Orientation and Responsibility for 
the Infection

Susan P. Sherburne and Valerian J. Derlega
Old Dominion University

The present laboratory study examined how people react 
to an HIV seropositive person as a function of the stimulus 
person's alleged responsibility for the infection and sexual 
orientation (gay or heterosexual).  Overall, subjects 
reported more negative affect and less trust for a gay 
versus heterosexual HIV positive individual. Males also 
reacted more negatively to gay versus heterosexual HIV- 
positive individuals.  The "responsibility" induction per se 
had limited impact on subjects' reactions; however, males 
responded more intimately (on a self-disclosure measure) 
to an HIV-positive person who had been "responsible" 
than "irresponsible" sexually at the time of contracting the 
HIV infection.  Implications of sexual orientation and 
responsibility for acquiring the HIV-infection for the social 
relationships of HIV-seropositive persons will be 
considered. 

1.7
HIV/AIDS and Close Relationships

Susan S. Hendrick, Brock Boekhout 
and Clyde Hendrick, Texas Tech University

HIV/AIDS has often been viewed as an individual 
concern, but it is also a relationship concern.  Research 
exploring sexuality generally as well as contraception 
more specifically indicates that both intrapersonal and 
interpersonal characteristics influence sexual attitudes and 
behavior.  The current study employed both quantitative 
and qualitative data to clarify some of these characteristics 
relevant to AIDS awareness.  Some 166 participants (79 
men, 87 women) completed a number of measures (e.g., 
AIDS attitudes, sexual self-esteem, sexual attitudes) and 
also gave a written account of how AIDS had influenced 
the sexual aspects of their romantic relationship.  Findings 
and their implications are discussed in detail.

1.8
Personal Accounts about Disclosing and Concealing of 
HIV-Positive Test Results: 
Weighing the Benefits and Risks

Valerian J. Derlega, Barbara A. Winstead, 
and David Lovejoy
Old Dominion University

This poster focuses on the reasons why individuals do or 
do not disclose information about being HIV seropositive 
after they have learned about their diagnosis.  We also 
considered how type of target (e.g., lover/spouse, 
parents/siblings, friends, and co- workers) affected the 
reasons given for disclosure versus nondisclosure.  
Results, based on a content analysis of interviews with 42 
individuals with the HIV infection, were consistent with 
the assumption that HIV seropositive individuals (akin to 
anyone who wishes to maintain privacy) seek to control 
who has access to the information about the diagnosis.  
Hence, HIV seropositive individuals weighed carefully 
their reasons for disclosing versus not disclosing about the 
diagnosis which, in turn, influenced who they actually 
told. 

Betrayal, Infidelity and Jealousy

1.9
Factors Related to the Frequency and 
Seriousness of Betrayal

Laurie L. Couch
University of Tennessee

Past research on betrayal has indicated that betrayal is a 
common experience, but has not provided adequate 
information regarding the factors related to a betrayal's 
perceived seriousness or one's frequent experience with 
betrayal.  The present research found that one's tendency 
to betray others was related to non-romantic relational 
dissatisfaction and gender, whereas the corresponding 
perception of being betrayed often was related to romantic 
satisfaction and experience with several painful romantic 
breakups. In addition, ratings of participants' betrayal 
stories revealed that gender, the type of betrayal, and 
change in the relationship due to the betrayal were all 
related to the perceived seriousness of the incident. 

1.10
Accounting for Infidelity in Heterosexual Relationships

Angie Burns and Dorothy Miell, The Open University
Chris Griffin, University of Birmingham

This study investigates the construction of stories and 
accounts of infidelity in heterosexual relationships.  In 
semi-structured interviews, eleven women talked at length 
about their relationships and love.  Using discourse 
analytic techniques, qualitatively different accounts were 
identified for their own infidelities and those of their 
partners.  This suggests they are drawing on a gendered 
discourse of infidelity, within which women position 
themselves as faithful, even when they are not, and 
position men as faithless even when they are faithful.  We 
consider how women discursively construct a complex 
interweaving of power, love, insecurity and infidelity 
within heterosexual relationships. Subsequent interviews 
with men allowed an exploration of whether they drew on 
a similar discourse. 

1.11
A Confirmatory Investigation of the 
Transactional Model of Jealousy

William D. Marelich, The Claremont Graduate School
Stanley O. Gaines, Jr., Pomona College

A study was undertaken to test the transactional model of 
jealousy (Bringle, 1991), which suggests jealousy is a 
dispositional characteristic in a transactional framework.  
Three latent components of the transactional model were 
evaluated: commitment, insecurity, and arousability. 
Dating couples completed measures of jealousy, self-
esteem, internal control, and relationship satisfaction.  
Linear structural equation modeling was used to measure 
the causal effects of these variables on jealousy by gender.  
Support for the transactional model was confirmed for 
females, but not for males, indicating that jealousy may be 
a different process for men and women. Findings suggest 
further that jealousy experienced by one person in the 
dyad has an indirect (as opposed to direct) effect on 
jealousy experienced by their partner.

Love and Attraction

1.12
"What's Love Got to Do with It," Verse Two:
Associations between Love Styles 
and Communication Values

Adrianne W. Kunkel, Brant R. Burleson, 
and Carol L. Bishop, Purdue University

To understand how love styles might be expressed 
communicatively, the present paper explores the 
relationships among individuals' communication values 
and the six major love styles identified by Lee (1973).  
Two different studies are reported in the current paper.  In 
Study 1, participants completed a brief version of 
Hendrick and Hendrick's (1986) Love Attitudes Scale, 
which provides assessments of six love styles, and 
Burleson and Samter's (1990) Communication Functions 
Questionnaire, which generates judgments about the 
importance of several affectively and instrumentally 
oriented communication skills.  Correlational and 
hierarchical regression analyses indicated that there were 
complex, but readily interpretable, patterns of association 
between love styles and communication skill evaluations.  
The second study sought to improve the instrumentation 
used and replicate the results of the first study.  In both 
studies, some associations between skill evaluations and 
love styles were moderated by gender.

1.13
Falling in Love: An Exploratory Investigation

M. A. L. van Tilburg, A. J. J. M. Vingerhoets, 
and R. Grim, Tilburg University 

Five-hundred-and-eighty-eight Dutch females completed a 
questionnaire on the context, antecedents of, and reactions 
to falling in love. The questionnaire was based upon the 
work of Scherer and his co-workers on emotional 
experiences in everyday life. It is concluded that falling in 
love is a unexpected but predominantly positively 
perceived feeling. Already being in a relationship does not 
necessarily inhibit these feelings. Neither is it important 
how long one knows the person. In contrast, age seems to 
have an important influence on the appraisal of falling in 
love. 

1.14
Love Styles, Sex Role Self Schema, Equity, and 
Relationship Satisfaction for Cohabiting Gay, Lesbian, 
and Heterosexual Couples

Barry J. Fallon
University Of Melbourne

Relationship dimensions within 28 heterosexual , 22 gay 
male, and 35 lesbian couples were examined. Love style 
differences for males and females were not the same as 
those for heterosexuals and homosexuals. Different 
combinations of love styles were significant predictors of 
relationship satisfaction than were predictors of group 
membership. Social exchange was important for the gays 
and lesbians while referential equity was important for the 
heterosexuals and the lesbians. Age and length of 
relationship were typically not significant, nor, except for 
masculinity/femininity, were sex role self schema. There 
are clear differences in the manner in which the variables 
are related to each other within each of the groups. 

1.15
Measuring Love Attitudes: A Dutch Experience

M. A. L. van Tilburg and A. J. J. M. Vingerhoets
Tilburg University 

Two-hundred-and-six Dutch adults completed the relation 
specific version of the Love Attitude Scale (LAS; Hendrick 
& Hendrick, 1990), measuring six love styles: Eros 
(romantic, passionate love), Ludus (game-playing love), 
Storge (friendship love), Pragma (logical, shopping-list 
love), Mania (possessive, dependent love), and Agape 
(selfless love). 
The results of the present study challenge the existence of 
six relatively independent love attitudes. It rather seems 
that the LAS measures one general instead of six specific 
attitudes. However, it is not clear what meaning to 
attribute to this general attitude. Furthermore, it can be 
concluded that love attitudes differ across age but not 
between gender. Pragma is the only scale which is not 
related to age but increases with increasing mean numbers 
of love experiences. It is tempting to speculate that one 
might become more pragmatic and logical in love when 
having had several disappointments in love. 

1.16
Man's Best Friend?  Empirical Evidence for Canine 
Assistance in Attracting Females

Shelley Dean Kilpatrick, Craig A. Foster, 
and James Gross
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The hypothesis that females are attracted to males who 
exhibit greater social-emotional qualities was tested.  
Observers rated females nonverbal behavior under each of 
three nurturance conditions (a) male playing with dog, (b) 
male walking with dog, and (c) male alone.  Mean 
attraction levels were lowest in the no dog condition, 
intermediate in the with dog condition, and highest in the 
playing with dog condition.  Females displayed more eye 
contact, smiled more, and displayed higher total attraction 
toward both the male with dog than the male alone.  
Therefore, socio- emotional qualities are important in the 
attraction of females to males. 

1.17
Male Perceptions of Specific Courtship Tactics
for Quality and Quantity Relationships

Linda R. Hirsch
Temple University

Human males may adopt one of two mating strategies: 1) 
the "Quality", a long-term, committed relationship or, 2) 
the "Quantity" strategy, a short-term, primarily sexual 
relationship. The two strategies should use different 
courtship tactics.  In a series of four studies, a set of 38 
courtship behaviors were rated by male subjects.  The 
ratings indicated that (1) tactics of Quality courtship 
involve mutual assessment, the development of emotional 
closeness, and a delay in sexual relations, (2) tactics of 
Quantity courtship involve sexual innuendos and an 
avoidance of emotional closeness, and (3) no Quality 
tactics are useful to the Quantity strategist and few 
Quantity tactics are useful to the Quality strategist. 

1.18
Gender Differences in Standards for
 Romantic Relationships

Anita L. Vangelisti and John A. Daly
University of Texas

Why is it that women often report more problems in their 
romantic relationships than do men? One explanation 
apparent in the literature is that women have stronger 
standards for relationships than do their male counterparts 
and, as a consequence, are less likely to have their 
standards met. A second is that while women and men 
may not differ in terms of the strength of their standards, 
the experiences they have in their romantic relationships 
lead women to feel their standards are not as often 
fulfilled. The current study tested these two notions and 
found greater support for the latter. The strength of 
standards held by women and men involved in 
heterosexual romantic relationships was similar. Women, 
however, noted that their standards were met less often 
than did men. The ability of two different theoretical 
models to predict and explain these findings is discussed. 

1.19
Empathy as Including Other in the Self

Barbara Fraley and Art Aron
State University of New York at Stony Brook

According to the self-expansion model, altruism arises 
because the helped other is part of the self (so that helping 
other is helping self).  Since empathy is a key mediator of 
helping behavior, we began exploring these issues by 
focusing on empathy.  In this experiment we manipulated 
empathy toward a target person, then administered four 
inclusion-of-other-in-the-self measures relating to self and 
target person.  We ran subjects individually, telling each 
that he or she was part of a two-person team.  Subjects 
were led to believe they were watching their partner over 
closed-circuit TV as the partner was being subjected to a 
series of loud blackboard scratches supposedly part of a 
learning task. We manipulated empathy by instructing 
subjects to form an emotional impression of their partner 
or to focus on the technical aspects of the task.  As 
predicted, there were significant differences in the 
expected direction (indicating greater inclusion of other in 
the self for the empathy condition) on Aron et al.'s (1992) 
Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale (1992) and on two 
cognitive tasks (Aron et al., 1991): an imaging task 
showing a self-reference effect for partner and a reaction-
time task showing self-other confusions with partner.  
(The experiment also involved an additional manipulation, 
focusing on "magical contamination," in which the subject 
did or did not wear a lab coat supposedly belonging to the 
other person. This effect interacted in inconsistent ways 
with the one we are examining in this paper.  Thus, the 
above results are simple effects analyses for those not 
wearing the partner's lab coat.)

1.20
Shared Expansion Experiences
and Relationship Satisfaction

Christina Norman and Art Aron
State University of New York at Stony Brook

The self-expansion model of motivation holds that 
individuals enter relationships to expand the self.  When a 
couple has been together for a few years, the original 
opportunities for expansion when forming a relationship 
(self-disclosure and risk taking) diminish and habituation 
may set in.  However, if a couple can engage together in 
expanding activities, these experiences of self- expansion 
may be partially attributed to the partner and the 
relationship, thereby enhancing relationship satisfaction.  
A previous field experiment (Reissman, Aron & Bergen, 
1993) found that couples randomly assigned to engage in 
shared expanding activities 1-1/2 hr/wk over a 10-wk 
period showed significantly greater gains in marital 
satisfaction than did a control group who engaged in 
merely pleasant activities over this period.  The present 
study was designed to replicate the effect under more 
tightly controlled conditions and to develop a laboratory 
paradigm to permit a more careful analysis of the 
mechanisms involved. Subjects (28 couples) believed they 
were taking part in an evaluation session in which they 
completed questionnaires and were observed in an 
interaction task.  In fact, the first questionnaire, completed 
before the activity, was a pretest; the activity itself was 
systematically manipulated to be either expanding or 
boring; and the second questionnaire, completed after the 
activity, was a posttest.  Consistent with the hypothesis, 
after controlling for pretest relationship satisfaction, the 
exciting activity group was significantly higher in posttest 
measures of relationship satisfaction.  In addition, there 
was a significant interaction between condition and length 
of relationship.  The pattern was consistent with the 
model:  Couples who had been together a short time 
showed little difference between conditions on 
satisfaction, while those together a long time showed a 
significant difference in the expected direction.

Roles in Marriage and the Family

1.21
His and Her Marriages: 
Sex Role Ideals, Skills, and Behaviors

Susan Gano-Phillips
University of Michigan-Flint

This study investigates the processes by which sex role 
ideals and skills are related to sex role behavior and 
marital satisfaction in a sample of 81 married couples.  
Simultaneous path analyses were used to examine the 
relationships between perceived ideal sex roles, perceived 
skills at sex typed tasks, marital behavior, and marital 
satisfaction.  Data were consistent with some aspects of 
the proposed theoretical model for both Husbands and 
Wives.  For husbands, both perceptions of ideal sex roles 
and perceptions of skills were predictive of behavior.  For 
wives, perceptions of skills predicted behavior but 
perceptions of ideal sex roles were unrelated to behavior.

1.22
Correlates of Family Social Roles

J. L. Fischer, J. Munsch, and B. W. Pidcock
Texas Tech University

Family social roles (hero, mascot, lostchild, and 
scapegoat) as reported by 108 high school students were 
related to family dysfunction, to satisfaction with family 
members, and to sources of self-concept support.  There 
was preliminary support for the hypothesis that more 
functional families are (a) more alike in family 
constellations of roles, (b) less negative in overall family 
roles, and (c) more positive in respondent's self-reported 
role. Both hero and lostchildren roles were related to lack 
of satisfaction with mother.  However, the hero role was 
positively related to school achievement whereas the 
lostchild role was negatively related to popularity.  
Mascots were popular and scapegoats were from 
dysfunctional families.

1.23
Male Gender Role Change: The Effects on
Marital Relationships and Household Chores

Mary J. Pickard
Fort Hays State University

A majority of American males and females expect that 
husbands will help with household chores when a wife is 
employed full time.  yet data from a geographically 
representative national sample of 2033 Americans 
indicates that only when female income is similar to male 
income is there an equitable division of household labor.  
When females supplies 10-20% or 81-100% of the 
household income, the male's gender role ideology is more 
traditional.  Three waves of data collected between 1980 
and 1988 were used to establish baseline data on change 
in male gender role and how willingness to perform 
household labor affected marital happiness and marital 
instability.

1.24
Identity and Close Relationship Influences on Young 
Adults' Expectations for Future Career, 
Marital, and Parental Roles

Jennifer L. Kerpelman, 
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Joe F. Pittman, Auburn University

This study examined identity and relationship factors 
hypothesized to influence young adults' expectations for 
future career, marital, and parental roles.  Seventy-seven 
undergraduates and their partners participated in a lab 
procedure.  The purpose of this procedure was to examine 
identity shaping processes that occur within relationship 
contexts.  Analyses currently underway will determine the 
degree to which target individuals maintained or changed 
identity expectations when they received information 
(while in the presence of their partners) that contradicted 
their self- views.  Congruence between the targets' and 
partners' views of the targets' identities are expected to 
facilitate maintenance of identity beliefs in the face of 
conflicting information. 

Quality of Familial Relationships

1.25
The Impact of Perceived Quality of Familial 
Relationships  on Female Faculty's 
Subjective Career Success

Brenda L. Bass and Mari S. Wilhelm
University of Arizona

Emotional support from close relationships has been found 
to benefit women in their occupations.  This study 
investigated whether female university faculty with high 
quality of parental, marital, and overall family 
relationships have higher levels of subjective occupational 
success.  These women completed measures of subjective 
career success, perceived work competence, parental role 
quality, marital role quality, and family life quality.  
Analyses will include regressing subjective career success 
on parental role quality, marital role quality, and family 
life quality while controlling for self-reported work 
competence.  A significant result would indicate a positive 
spillover from family to work for women which should be 
fostered. 

1.26
Her Marriage, His Marriage and 
Their Children's Adjustment

Susan M. McHale and Mary C. Maguire
Pennsylvania State University

We studied differences in children's adjustment and family 
relationships as a function of different patterns of wives' 
and husbands' marital love in 100 predominantly white, 
working- middle class, two-parent families with at least 
two school-age children. Mothers, fathers, and both 
children were interviewed separately about their well-
being and family relationships in home interviews; in a 
series of 7 nightly phone interviews family members also 
reported on their daily activities. Analyses revealed more 
child adjustment problems and parent-child conflict when 
wives but not husbands reported low levels of marital 
love; in these families wives were more dissatisfied with 
the division of child care and marital decision-making.  
Gender roles in marriage and their implications for 
children will be discussed. 

1.27
Links Between Relationships: The Connections 
Between Parents' Marriages and
 Adolescents' Peer Relations

Kimberly A. Updegraff
Pennsylvania State University

This study examined the connections between multiple 
dimensions of parents' marriages and adolescents' 
relationships with peers.  Data were collected from 
mothers, fathers, and firstborn boys and girls in 141 
predominantly middle and working class families.  
Findings showed that parents' division of labor and reports 
of marital conflict were connected to adolescents' temporal 
involvement with friends.  In contrast, mothers' and 
fathers' satisfaction in their marriage was linked to 
adolescents' dating behavior.  Findings are discussed in 
terms of the importance of considering multiple 
relationship dimensions and the collective marital 
experiences of both parents in understanding girls' and 
boys' relationships with peers.

1.28
'Sister Best Friends': Stories of Relationship

Melanie Mauthner
London University

This paper considers relationships between biological 
sisters. It presents data from a small qualitative UK study, 
in particular the stories sisters tell as 'sister best friends'. 
The method of analysis and some methodological issues 
are outlined. The research design, data collection and data 
analysis are embedded in three theoretical approaches to 
qualitative research - feminism, feminist postmodernism 
and poststructuralism, and sociological work in 
auto/biography. Drawing on interviews with sisters across 
four decades, the typology of 'sister best friends' is 
examined in terms of the pleasures and tensions around 
female friends, boyfriends, the body and emotions, 
difference and power relations. 

Predictors of Continuation and Commitment 
in Romantic Relationships

1.29
Relational Quality in Romantic Relationships:
A Test of the Investment Model

Jacki Fitzpatrick, Texas Tech University
Donna L. Sollie, Auburn University

Guided by the investment model, the present study 
examined the influence of dimensions of interdependence 
(e.g., comparison level, alternatives, investments) and 
daily interactional events (e.g., self-disclosure, conflict, 
maintenance behaviors) on commitment in romantic 
relationships.  The interdependence factors and relational 
quality factors were assessed via a questionnaire packet; 
the interpersonal variables were measured by a daily log of 
relational interactions for a two-week period.  The results 
of this study indicated that both types of factors contribute 
to commitment with relationship partners.  This study 
highlights the importance of studying both 
interdependence and interactional factors in relationships 
and provides additional support for the utility of the 
investment model in studying romantic relationships.

1.30
Love and Commitment in Close Relationships

Duane W. Crawford and Judith L. Fischer, 
Texas Tech University
Lisa Diana, Southwest Education Center

Following the lead of Johnson (1981; 1991) and Kelley 
(1983), this study investigated the relative importance of 
endogenous and exogenous influences upon relationship 
commitment.  Love (care, need, and trust), commitment, 
equity, and relationship alternatives were measured using 
a sample of 230 college students.  Results indicated that 
care, need, and trust were all moderately correlated with 
relationship commitment, and that alternatives explained 
more variance in commitment than the love subscales or 
equity.  The latter result is consistent with Sprecher's 
(1988) conclusion that one of the most important 
predictors of commitment is the level of available 
alternatives.

1.31
Predicting Commitment and Relationship Persistence:
The Role of Fluctuations in Satisfaction Level

Ximena B. Arriaga
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This research tests whether fluctuations in couple 
members' satisfaction level undermine the development of 
commitment and increase the odds of breakup in the early 
stages of relationships. Consistent with hypotheses, results 
revealed that (1) after taking into account the overall trend 
in relationship qualities and the largest decline in 
satisfaction, each obtained over ten weekly sessions, 
fluctuations in satisfaction ratings significantly predicted 
Time 10 commitment and breakup status (measured four 
months later); and (2) Time 10 commitment mediated the 
impact of fluctuations in satisfaction level on later breakup 
status. Additional measures suggested that such 
fluctuations reflect ambivalence and doubts about the 
relationship. 

1.32
Attachment Style, Relationship Orientation,
and Relationship Outcomes: A Longitudinal 
Investigation of Long-distance Romantic Involvements

Gregory D. Morrow and Kimberly A. Lata
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

A longitudinal study was designed to determine whether 
or not individual differences in attachment style (secure, 
avoidant, anxious/ambivalent) and relationship orientation 
(exchange versus communal) were associated with 
changes in the quality of respondents' long-distance 
relationships.  Correlational analyses indicated that both 
avoidant and anxious/ambivalent attachment styles and an 
exchange orientation were negatively related to 
satisfaction and commitment and positively correlated 
with loneliness and depression while secure attachment 
and a communal orientation were positively associated 
with these variables. Changes, over time, in relationship 
quality were also examined. 

1.33
Perspective Taking, Communication and Emotional 
Maturity in Dating Relationships

Mark Odell
Bowling Green State University

Dating relationships remain highly significant in the 
process of mate selection.  Murstein's (1976) Stimulus-
Value-Role theory holds that partners progress toward a 
decision to marry through increasingly intimate stages, so 
long as perceived rewards outweigh costs.  Making 
ongoing judgments about rewards requires that both 
partners be able to perspective-take (i.e., take the point of 
view of another), to be emotionally mature, and be 
effective communicators .  In this study, the relations 
between communication efficacy, perspective taking, and 
emotional maturity are examined, and their effect on the 
perception that a given dating relationship will end in 
marriage is investigated. 

1.34
Intimate Relationships Among Youth of Different
 Races in Malaysia:  A Preliminary Study

Abdul Azizal Abdul Aziz
Universiti Pertanian Malaysia

This paper discusses several interesting findings from a 
survey conducted among students in a university campus 
in Malaysia.  A total of 85 interracial and interreligious 
intimate couples were interviewed individually using a 
self-report questionnaire.  About 91 percent of the 
respondents are aware that their relationships will not be 
easily accepted by the society at large.  Almost 65 percent 
realize that their relationships are volatile since they have 
not obtained their parents' blessings.  They are also aware 
of their cultural and religious differences and the need to 
find a common ground.  Even with all these challenges 
that they are aware of almost all respondents state they 
will continue their relationships after graduation; only 1.2 
percent state they will end their relationships.  In fact, 
33.5 percent plan to get married.  Most respondents 
believe that interracial and interreligious marriage can 
help promote unity and oneness in a melting pot like 
Malaysia.  Such relationships take time to bloom. A total 
of 53.5 percent of the students said that their relationships 
took more than a year to get serious.  Most relationships 
began with school work (30.6 percent), i.e., courses, 
assignments, projects, study tours, etc.  Their 
communication topics usually center around school 
activities and gradually move to current issues, hobbies, 
and more serious and intimate items. Some 52 percent of 
these relationships are based on shared interest and 
mutual respect.  Their communication patterns show that 
52.4 percent keep in touch daily while another 20.7 
percent see each other more than four days a week.  61.2 
percent use up between one to two hours for each meeting.  
Other than face-to-face interaction, 78.8 percent utilize the 
telephone frequently.

1.35
Commitment and Post-Divorce Relationships 
Between Ex-spouses

Carol Masheter
University of Utah 

This paper extends existing concepts on commitment 
(Fehr, 1988; Johnson, 1991; Rusbult et al., 1994) in terms 
of five scenarios for former spouses based on interview 
data: (1) no commitment, (2) negative commitment, (3) 
coparental commitment, (4) commitment to each other, 
and (5) discrepant commitment.  The first two scenarios 
are consistent with earlier divorce research and public 
stereotypes of divorced couples as completely disengaged 
or as engaged in ongoing conflict.  The second two 
scenarios suggest new possibilities for potentially 
beneficial commitment between former spouses.  The fifth 
scenario acknowledges that for some divorced couples the 
former spouses do not have the same commitment 
scenario.  Implications for theory and future research are 
discussed.