Transcript Adolescent Psychology

Chapter 9, Lecture 2: Romantic Relationships
ADOLESCENT PSYCHOLOGY
GROUPS, CLIQUES, & CROWDS…
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Childhood groups differ from adolescent groups
Cliques & crowds are types of adolescent groups
Development
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Group membership (crowd or clique)
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Isolated – unisexual – early mixed sex – fully mixed sex –
crowd disintegration – couples
Affiliation, self-esteem, support
Identity (temporary); try on roles (maturity, shifting groups)
Groups & Gender
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Boys: bigger groups, competition, risk taking
Girl: intimacy oriented, interpersonal relationships
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?
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DATING & ROMANTIC RELAITONSHIPS
Dating: a relatively recent phenomenon
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1920s
select & win a mate
evolved into more than just courtship for marriage
Functions of Dating (today)
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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
DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS
Help or hinder identity development?
 Groups & informal setting more comfortable
 1st dates: 14-16 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
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ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS: DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS
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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).
EMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT & DATING
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Emotions vary – mood swings
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A concern is that in some cases the negative emotions are too intense &
prolonged; can lead to adjustment problems
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Romantic love vs affectionate love
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Risk factors: attachment hx, loss of parent, divorce, siblings,
peer rejection
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Dating & Adjustment
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Dissolution of a Romantic Relationship
BREAKING UP
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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.
BREAKING UP
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Dissolution of a Romantic Relationship
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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).
WHAT IS LOVE? – LOVE “TYPES”
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Romantic Love
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Affectionate love
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passionate love or “eros”
Strong sexual & infatuation components
early part of a love relationship
Extremely important among college students
companionate love
adult love
What love type do you display?
GENDER, CULTURE, & ETHNICITY
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Relationships vary
Gender differences in motivation coming into the dating
experience?
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Dating scripts: the cognitive models that adolescents & adults use
to guide/evaluate dating interactions
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Candice Feiring (1996) found that they did.
 Girls -- describe romance in terms of interpersonal qualities
 Boys in terms of physical attraction
Male: proactive
Female: reactive
Sociocultural context exerts a powerful influence on adolescent
dating patterns & on mate selection (Booth, 2002; Stevenson & Zusho,
2002).
TEEN DATING VIOLENCE
Psychological, sexual, & emotional abuse
 8 - 30% -- physical violence
 10 – 18% -- sexually victimized by dating partner
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Risk taking (drug abuse/ early sex) – victimization
 Family violence
 Friends of victims
 Depression
 Endorsing traditional gender roles
 Early dating
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How can we prevent teen dating violence?
LIFESTYLES IN EMERGING ADULTHOOD
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Single
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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
LIFESTYLES IN EMERGING ADULTHOOD
Cohabiting Adults
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Living together in a sexual relationship w/o being married
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Has undergone considerable changes in recent years (Poponoe &
Whitehead, 2006).
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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).
LIFESTYLES IN EMERGING ADULTHOOD
Married Adults
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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
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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
LIFESTYLES: DIVORCE
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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).
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Usually between 5th & 10th year. (National Center for Health Statistics,
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Loneliness, diminished self-esteem, anxiety about the
unknowns in their lives, & difficulty in forming satisfactory
new intimate relationships
Difficulty trusting – most common
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2000).
LIFESTYLES:
GAY MALES & LESBIAN RELATIONSHIPS
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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).
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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)
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“Open” relationships
Long-term committed relationships
Common misconceptions
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Masculinity & Femininity within coupleship
Number of sexual partners