Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Sinclair, H. Colleen

Committee Member

Giesen, J. Martin

Committee Member

Rader, Nicole

Date of Degree

8-11-2012

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Experimental Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Psychology

Abstract

Applying Relational Goal Pursuit Theory (RGT), the present study examined the motivations for obsessive relational intrusion (ORI). Participants (n = 509) were randomly assigned to conditions that 1) primed relational or retaliatory goals, then 2) exposed to a negative romantic relationship vignette (relationship disappointment vs. explicit rejection vs. “nice” rejection), and 3) then were either induced to ruminate about the vignette events or were not. Participants reported how likely they would be to think about pursuit (e.g., frequent calls) and aggressive (e.g., threats) ORI. Contrary to expectations, rejection elicited less ORI than the relationship disappointment condition. However, it was found that 1) the ORI scale broke into a threeactor, instead of twoactor, model of pursuit, aggressive, and surveillance behavior, and 2) that motivations for each type varied. Relational goals predicted pursuit. Retaliation predicted aggression. Motives for surveillance behaviors were linked to both desires for revenge and reconciliation.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/20103

Comments

breakup||Obsessive Relational Intrusion||stalking

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