1. Adolescent Psychology
Chapter 9, Lecture 2: Romantic Relationships
Adolescent Psychology

2. Groups, Cliques, & Crowds…
Childhood groups differ from adolescent groups
Cliques & crowds are types of adolescent groups
Development
Isolated – unisexual – early mixed sex – fully mixed sex – crowd disintegration – couples
Group membership (crowd or clique)
Affiliation, self-esteem, support
Identity (temporary); try on roles (maturity, shifting groups)
Groups & Gender
Boys: bigger groups, competition, risk taking
Girl: intimacy oriented, interpersonal relationships

3. Class Discussion What crowd were you a part of in H.S.?
What cliques do you remember?
Best friend? Sex? What did you talk about? Do?
What was dating like in junior high? H.S.?
Peer rejection?
Did you belong to youth organizations?

4. Dating & Romantic RElaitonships
Dating: a relatively recent phenomenon
1920s
select & win a mate
evolved into more than just courtship for marriage
Functions of Dating (today)
Recreation
Source of status & achievement
Part of the socialization process
Involves learning about intimacy
Context for sexual experimentation & exploration
Provides companionship
Identity formation & development
A means of mate sorting & selection

5. Developmental process
Help or hinder identity development?
Groups & informal setting more comfortable
1st dates: years of age; by 16 90% have dated
50% have romantic relationships by 10th grade
11th/12th grade females spend 10x as many hours with boys than in 5th/6th grade

6. Romantic Relationships: Developmental Process
Individuals spent more time thinking about the opposite sex than they actually spent with them
By 11th & 12th grade -- more time spent in their actual presence than thinking about them
Recently, researchers have begun to study romantic relationships in gay male, lesbian, & bisexual youth (Diamond & Savin-Williams, 2003).

7. Emotional Adjustment & Dating
Emotions vary – mood swings
A concern is that in some cases the negative emotions are too intense & prolonged; can lead to adjustment problems
Romantic love vs affectionate love
Risk factors: attachment hx, loss of parent, divorce, siblings, peer rejection
Dating & Adjustment
Dissolution of a Romantic Relationship

8. Breaking up Being in love when love is not returned can lead to:
Depression
Obsessive thoughts
Sexual dysfunction
Inability to work effectively
Difficulty in making new friends
Self-condemnation.
Thinking clearly in such relationships is often difficult, because the person is so colored by arousing emotions.

9. Breaking Up Dissolution of a Romantic Relationship
Studies of romantic breakups have mainly focused on their negative aspects (Frazier & Cooke, 1993; Kato, 2005; Kurdek, 1997).
Few studies have examined the possibility that a romantic breakup might lead to positive changes (Sbarra & Ferrer, 2006).

10. What is Love? – Love “Types”
Romantic Love
passionate love or “eros”
Strong sexual & infatuation components
early part of a love relationship
Extremely important among college students
Affectionate love
companionate love
adult love
What love type do you display?

11. Gender, Culture, & Ethnicity
Relationships vary
Gender differences in motivation coming into the dating experience?
Candice Feiring (1996) found that they did.
Girls -- describe romance in terms of interpersonal qualities
Boys in terms of physical attraction
Dating scripts: the cognitive models that adolescents & adults use to guide/evaluate dating interactions
Male: proactive
Female: reactive
Sociocultural context exerts a powerful influence on adolescent dating patterns & on mate selection (Booth, 2002; Stevenson & Zusho, 2002).

12. Teen Dating violence Psychological, sexual, & emotional abuse
8 - 30% -- physical violence
10 – 18% -- sexually victimized by dating partner
Risk factors:
Risk taking (drug abuse/ early sex) – victimization
Family violence
Friends of victims
Depression
Endorsing traditional gender roles
Early dating
How can we prevent teen dating violence?

13. Lifestyles In Emerging Adulthood
Single
Increasing percentage
Stereotypes:“Swinging single”;“Desperately lonely”;“Suicidal”
Advantages:
Time to make decisions about one’s life course
Time to develop personal resources to meet goals
Freedom to make autonomous decisions
Pursue one’s own schedule & interests
Opportunities to explore new places & new things
Privacy

14. Lifestyles in Emerging adulthood
Cohabiting Adults
Living together in a sexual relationship w/o being married
Has undergone considerable changes in recent years (Poponoe & Whitehead, 2006).
Many couples view their cohabitation not as a precursor to marriage but as an ongoing lifestyle.
Less than 1 out of 10 lasts 5 years.
Researchers have found a higher rate of domestic violence among cohabiting couples than in married couples (Kenney & McLanahan, 2006).

15. Lifestyles in Emerging Adulthood
Married Adults
Until about 1930, stable marriage was widely accepted as the endpoint of adult development.
Personal fulfillment both inside & outside marriage has emerged as a goal that competes with marital stability
Marital Trends
Marriage rates in the United States have declined
More adults are remaining single longer today
Average duration of a marriage in the U.S. is currently just over 9 years

16. Lifestyles: Divorce
Epidemic in the United States (Fine & Harvey, 2006).
Disadvantaged groups have a higher incidence of divorce.
Youthful marriage, low educational level, low income, not having a religious affiliation, having parents who are divorced, & having a baby before marriage are associated with increases in divorce (Poponoe & Whitehead, 2006; Rodriques, Hall, & Fincham, 2006).
Usually between 5th & 10th year. (National Center for Health Statistics, 2000).
Loneliness, diminished self-esteem, anxiety about the unknowns in their lives, & difficulty in forming satisfactory new intimate relationships
Difficulty trusting – most common

17. Lifestyles: Gay Males & Lesbian Relationships
The legal & social context -- marriage
Relationships are similar—in their satisfactions, loves, joys, & conflicts—to heterosexual relationships (Hyde & DeLamater, 2006; Kurdek, 2006; Oswald & Clausell, 2005; Peplau & Fingerhut, 2007).
Need to find the balance of romantic love, affection, autonomy, & equality that is acceptable to both partners (Kurdek, 2003).
Lesbian couples -- high priority on equality in their relationships (Kurdek, 1995)
“Open” relationships
Long-term committed relationships
Common misconceptions
Masculinity & Femininity within coupleship
Number of sexual partners