Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Sinclair, H. Colleen

Committee Member

Giesen, J. Martin

Committee Member

Wilmoth, Joe D.

Date of Degree

5-11-2013

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Psychology

Abstract

Research shows that friend/family opinions influence romantic relationships, with approval leading to positive outcomes (e.g, increased intimacy) and disapproval leading to negative outcomes (e.g., couple dissolution). The impact the network's opinion has on their relationship with the person is less examined. Balance theory suggests when their network disapproves, people try to change the network’s mind about the partner, their mind about their partner, or their mind about their network. If so, disapproval could lead to lowered network relationship quality, which may lead to increased romantic relationship dependence. Participants read one of four vignettes manipulating friend/parent opinion (approval/disapproval) and completed dependence/relationship quality scales. The study found that romantic and network relationship quality is hurt by network disapproval, but dependence was not affected. Any approval for the romantic relationship acted as a buffer to disapproval. Changing the source of the network listened to was another way found that people balance these relationships

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/17762

Comments

exclusive dependence||relational interdependence||social network effect

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