LE3 .A278 2020

2020

Holmberg, Diane

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Psychology

Psychology

The present study examined how perceived disapproval of romantic relationships by social network members (friends or family members) predicted closeness of the relationship between the target person involved in the romantic relationship and the corresponding social network member (SNM). Seven hundred and three participants who were currently in romantic relationships receiving disapproval completed a comprehensive online survey examining basic demographics, closeness of relationship with the selected SNM at three different time points (i.e., before any perceived disapproval, at the point of strongest perceived disapproval, and currently), and perceived strength of the SNM’s disapproval. The study further investigated whether levels of perceived disapproval and perceived closeness varied by relationship type (i.e., visibly marginalized relationship vs. non-marginalized relationship) or SNM type (i.e., friend vs. family member). Using a Mixed ANOVA grouping three types of visibly marginalized relationships (i.e., age-discrepant, mixed-race, or same- sex) together, a significant main effect of time on closeness with SNMs was found, such that closeness dropped substantially when disapproval was detected, and recovered slightly afterwards,but only for those who experienced lower levels of perceived disapproval, and not nearly to original levels. The pattern of change in closeness was moderated by both strength of the SNM’s disapproval and SNM type. Relationship type was not found to be a significant predictor of closeness with SNMs. However, follow-up analyses comparing same-sex and mixed-sex relationship types revealed a significant interaction between time and relationship type. Implications and theoretical explanations for such findings were discussed.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3444