Date of Award

11-1-2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education

First Advisor

Cynthia McRae, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Scott Stanley

Third Advisor

Ruth Chao

Fourth Advisor

Lawrence Conyers

Keywords

Dating, Graduate, Long-distance, Proximally close, Relationships, Students

Abstract

The objective of the current study was to examine Relationship Satisfaction, Personal Commitment and Trust, and Perceived Partner Commitment and Trust among long-distance and proximally close dating relationships of graduate students. The sample included graduate students in long-distance and proximally close dating relationships. The study found that Perceived Partner Commitment significantly predicted Personal Trust over and beyond Personal Commitment. Study results also indicate that Personal Commitment and Personal Trust significantly predicted Relationship Satisfaction, but that, Perceived Partner Commitment did not. Results also indicated that participants in short-term long-distance relationships reported higher levels of Personal Commitment than participants in long-term long-distance relationships. Results indicated there was no difference in Commitment based on which partner traveled more. Finally, for long distance participants, Visits Per Year (face-to-face contact) was not related to Personal Commitment, Personal Trust, Perceived Partner Commitment or Perceived Partner Trust. Future research examining the differences between long-distance and proximally close dating relationships, larger sample sizes, and random samples will help to contribute to the little that is known about these unique relationships.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Camille Gonzalez

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

124 p.

Discipline

Psychology

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