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Dating & Relationships

Results of Qualitative and Online Message Testing To Support A Sexual Health Campaign

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The Communications Action Group (CAG) of the National Coalition for Sexual Health (NCSH) drafted a series of messages designed to motivate individuals to take action to protect and improve their sexual health.

Specifically, these messages were designed to define and promote:

●The benefits of sexual health.

●Core action steps to achieve good sexual health.

●A simple, consumer-friendly definition of sexual health.

This report presents the findings of a qualitative exploration with the general public to examine message clarity, relevance and appeal, and to determine:

●The motivational power of six general benefit statements and 26 specific benefits of sexual health.

●Whether five draft action steps, along with supporting statements, are clear, compelling, and perceived to be important.

●The appeal of four possible definitions of sexual health.

Messages were tested with men and women, 18 years of age and older in two phases:

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Why Women Engage in Anal Intercourse: Results from a Qualitative Study

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Abstract

This study used qualitative methods to assess why women engage in heterosexual anal (receptive) intercourse (AI) with a male partner.Four focus groups which comprised women from diverse ethnicities were conducted. All groups were digi- tally recorded for transcription; transcripts were analyzed using the methods of grounded theory to determine themes. Women’s reasons for engaging in anal intercourse with a male partner can be described in broad categories including that the women wanted to have anal intercourse, either because of their own desire, to please a male partner, or they were responding to a quid pro quo situation. The riskiness of AI was assessed within relationship contexts. Past experience with AI including emotional and physical reactions was identified. Among the negative physical experiences of AI were pain and disliking the sensation, and uncomfortable side effects, such as bleeding of the rectum. Negative ...

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Interpersonal Relationships At Work: An Examination Of Dispositional Influences And Organizational Citizenship Behavior

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ABSTRACT

Positive interpersonal relationships at work foster a variety of beneficial outcomes for individuals and organizations. Past research has examined contextual and demographic antecedents of friendships at work. Forming interpersonal connections should have strong dispositional roots. The authors use structural equation modeling to analyze data from 438 frontline service employees from a casual dining, national restaurant chain in the United States. Results from this study support the hypotheses that extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability are each positively related to forming valued interpersonal relationships at work. In addition, interpersonal citizenship behavior is hypothesized and supported as an outcome of positive interpersonal relationships at work. Testing a full model of all the hypotheses enabled us to identify valued interpersonal relationships as an intermediary variable of the relationship between personality and interpersonal citizenship behavior. Interpersonal relationships at work: An examination of dispositional influences and organizational citizenship behavior Positive interpersonal relationships at work have an advantageous impact on both organizational and individual variables. Research has...

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Self-Disclosure and Starting a Close Relationship

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Abstract

In this chapter we examine various topics about self-disclosure and starting a relationship. We examine how background factors (e.g., culture, personality, and gender) and communication medium (e.g., face-to-face versus Internet communication) influence self-disclosure at the start of a relationship. We show how self-disclosure is incorporated into conversations to intensify or restrict intimacy and closeness between new acquaintances. We describe how the reactions of the disclosure recipient and the discloser to self-disclosure input assist new acquaintances to assess feelings of intimacy for one another and whether or not to seek a closer relationship. We also illustrate how a relationship-building exercise incorporating self-disclosure may increase feelings of closeness between new acquaintances. First, let us define self-disclosure and review influential, early approaches about the role of self-disclosure at the start of a relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved

See Also: Self-disclosure and starting a close relationship.

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Denial, Minimization, Partner Blaming, and Intimate Aggression in Dating Partners

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Although countering denial, minimization, and externalization of blame is a key component of most interventions for individuals who have been abusive in their intimate relationships, these attributions have only seldom been the focus of empirical investigation. Using a sample of 139 male and female university students, this study examined the associations between self-reported minimizing and blaming attributions and the perpetration of physical, sexual, and psychological aggression against an intimate partner. For men, minimization of conflict and partner blame were associated with self-reported perpetration of intimate partner aggression, even after controlling for socially desirable responding and relationship satisfaction. In contrast, women’s aggression was associated only with partner blame. Discussion focuses on overlap with similar areas of research, gender differences in minimization and blaming, and on potential directions for further empirical work on the associations of intimate aggression, relationship dissatisfaction, and attribution

.Denial of problem behavior, or of personal responsibility for such behavior, is a fundamental component of many psychological problems that a...

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“The End Could Be Just the Beginning”: The Study of Relationship Termination through the Performance of Literature.

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Noting that breaking off romantic relationships can be traumatic even when the end is welcome, this paper describes the strategies and stages of relationship termination and suggests ways for instructors of oral interpretation and/or interpersonal communication classes to illustrate such relational decay. The first section deals with relationship termination strategies, identifying M. J. Cody's five general strategies: behavioral de-escalation, identity management, justification, de-escalation, and positive tone. Examples of statements made by persons using each termination strategy are included, but not examples of specific situations. The second part of the paper looks at M. L. Knapp's five stages of relationship decay: differentiation, circumscription, stagnation, avoidance, and termination. The paper notes that stages are said to be useful, but as with the strategy list, a lack of specific examples reveals a need for something more. In the third section, oral interpretation of literature is suggested as a means for providing...

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Understanding the Dynamics of Abusive Relationships

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Abusive relationships are fairly simple. They are driven by insecurity, fear that feeds that insecurity and an expectation of inconsistency, both real and perceived.

An abuser is morbidly insecure. S/he (yes, potentially, she) has little sense of his/her own social value and makes an effort to gain or re-gain some semblance of that value through domination and control. The fear that feeds that insecurity has two fronts: fear of not being lovable, and fear of appearing weak. The paradox here is that the abuser is, in fact, weak, which is why s/he abuses -- to maintain a sense of control -- in the first place. The perceived inconsistency on the part of the abuser by the victim is that the victim is not submitting to the abuser's domination.

The victim is also morbidly insecure and for surprisingly similar reasons. S/he...

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The Importance of “Sexual Proprietariness” in Theoretical Framing and Interpretation of Pregnancy-Associated Intimate Partner Violence and Femicide

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Abstract

Using a theoretical framework based on the concept of sexual proprietariness, findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey are presented. Prevalence of physical and sexual violence, stalking, threats of violence, and power and control were examined for the overall NVAW sample, for those women abused by an intimate partner in particular, and those who were physically abused during a pregnancy. Results indicate that women who are physically abused during pregnancy also experience higher levels of all other forms of abuse compared to women who are not pregnant when abused, including nearly twice the level of power and control.

Abstract

Using a theoretical framework based on the concept of sexual proprietariness, findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey are presented. Prevalence of physical and sexual violence, stalking, threats of violence, and power and control were examined for the overall NVAW sample, for those women abused by...

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