Romantic Relationship Formation Research Articles

Parasocial Interactions in Otome Games: Emotional Engagement and Parasocial Intimacy Among Chinese Female Players

This study conducts qualitative research on female players of otome games, exploring the mechanisms of romantic relationship formation within these games and their impact on perceptions of real-life intimate relationships. The findings reveal that the parasocial romantic relationships formed in otome games are not entirely detached from reality; instead, they are embedded in daily life through game interaction mechanisms and the players’ internalized imagination, thereby influencing the reconstruction of real-life intimate relationships. Female players show a high degree of acceptance and immersion in these romantic relationships, focusing on the emotional support provided by male characters. These relationships play a positive role in fulfilling emotional needs, regulating negative emotions, constructing self-identity, and redefining perceptions of intimacy. The intangibility of physical contact remains the only significant shortcoming, as perceived by a minority of players, pointing to a primary direction for the future development of otome games.

“We’re Just Talking”: Constructing a Recent Trend in Emerging Adult Romantic Relationship Development

Emerging adults’ relationship development is an increasingly multi-faceted process characterized by ambiguity. Just talking has emerged as a phrase to characterize early relationship formation in popular culture, yet it remains understudied in the empirical literature. Constructivist grounded theory was used to explore this phenomenon in modern romantic relationship formation employing nine focus groups (N = 52) of emerging adult men and women from two large Midwestern universities. Eleven unique themes were generated to identify how emerging adult men and women conceptualize just talking (pre-dating, ambiguity about commitment, unofficial romantic label), reasons for just talking (pressure to keep options open, protection from rejection, testing the waters, avoiding defining the relationship), and how technology may facilitate the just talking process (increases the pool of potential partners, comfortable frequent contact, image crafting, less effort required). The findings have substantial implications for educators, clinicians, and other professionals who work with emerging adults.

Contesting Imaginations of Romantic Love

Imagination has become an important social practice throughout the world in times of globalization and deterritorialization, as argued by the anthropologist Arjun Appadurai. This development has an effect on the formation of romantic relationships: more and more couples meet across borders. Migration through marriage has become one of the most important legal channels to Europe. In this article, I argue that romantic love can be understood as imagination and, thereby, as a driving force for migration. At the same time, imaginations of romantic love are in the focus of migration control and, consequently, highly contested and shaped by different state actors while travelling across borders.

Does social media use help individuals with social anxiety form romantic relationships?

AbstractThe goal of this study was to examine how social anxiety contributes to romantic relationship formation and whether technology may be used to assist this process. Participants completed an online survey (N = 242); individuals who scored moderate or higher in social anxiety on the Liebowitz social anxiety scale were invited to participate in an anonymous online chat (N = 41). Quantitative and qualitative data revealed that socially anxious individuals reported more confidence speaking to romantic interests virtually than in person. Social media appears to be a tool for socially anxious individuals to ease stress associated with romantic relationship formation.

Multiracial Multilinguals: How Language Influences Multiracials’ Interpersonal Relationships

Lovers in interracial couples are more likely to have different heritage languages and first languages than same-race couples, and Multiracials are the offspring of interracial couples. As such, Multiracials’ linguistic socialization likely differs from that of monoracials. Our study examined the influence of ethnoracial socialization on monoracials’ and Multiracials’ linguistic knowledge and the influence of language and ethnoracial identity on individuals’ interpersonal relationships. We hypothesized that monoracials would be more likely to know their heritage language than Multiracials, that linguistic knowledge would differ between interminority Multiracial groups and half-White Multiracial groups, and that linguistic knowledge would be associated with the formation of both friendships and romantic relationships. Our sample included nearly a thousand students from a university in California. We found that monoracial minorities were more likely to be multilingual than both interminority Multiracials and half-White Multiracials. East Asian participants who spoke an East Asian language had a higher proportion of East Asian friends. Among Multiracials, Wasians and Latinasians who spoke an East Asian language primarily dated someone East Asian, Latinasians who spoke a Latin American language primarily dated someone Hispanic, and monolinguals of both groups were the ones most likely to date someone White. These findings suggest that linguistic knowledge plays a significant role in a community's social dynamics, affecting monoracials' and (especially) Multiracials' interpersonal relationships.

Romantic Passion and Its Impact on Motivation in the Formation and Maintenance of Romantic Relationships

Romantic Passion and Its Impact on Motivation in the Formation and Maintenance of Romantic Relationships

Sexuality, romantic orientation, and masculinity: Men as underrepresented in asexual and aromantic communities

AbstractThis study examines men as a minority in asexual (experiencing low/no sexual attraction) and aromantic (experiencing low/no romantic attraction) communities. First, we situate our research in existing literature on asexuality, compulsory sexuality/compulsory romance, and hegemonic masculinities. In our analysis, we use survey data from the 2020 Asexual Community Survey (n = 4974) and 2020 Aromantic Census (n = 3018) to provide evidence that asexual and aromantic men are demographic minorities within asexual and aromantic communities. Next, we turn to two interview samples with 39 individuals who identify as aromantic and 77 individuals who identify as asexual. We analyzed these interviews to explore how sexuality and romance contribute to the construction of hegemonic masculinities. Our interviews reveal several important themes that highlight how asexual and aromantic men navigate their masculinity and identity amid asexual and aromantic communities as majority‐woman spaces. We focus on three main themes: (1) masculinity as inherently sexual; (2) masculinity, heteronormativity, and the gendered construction of romance; and (3) asexual/aromantic identity, masculinity, and the split attraction model. Taken together, our results show how (hetero)sexuality and romantic relationship formation are fundamental to hegemonic masculinity. We find that asexual and aromantic men face cultural pressures and social stigma around initiating sex and performing romance. Asexual men must contend with managing a sexual identity that runs counter to men's supposedly innate sexual desire, thus situating them as inadequately masculine. Aromantic men, meanwhile, must manage inhabiting an identity that is conflated with the fuckboy/player trope, situating them as excessively masculine. This study demonstrates how centering asexual and aromantic perspectives reveals complexities in the ways hegemonic masculinity relies on participation in both sex and romance. We conclude by relating our findings to larger conversations on gender and sexualities as well as implications for future research on marginalized sexual identities.

Perspectives on Sexual Socialization from a Sample of Black Heterosexual College Women

Informed by ecological and Black feminist approaches, this inductive, thematic analysis analyzed narratives from 24 Black college women, ages 18–25, about the sexual socialization they received from multiple agents within and outside of the family. The themes were: Avoidance, Safety and Consent, Fun and Action-Centered Acts, (Mis)Information About Sexual Health, Gendered Norms, and Purity versus Sexual Freedom. The women received messages of avoidance, purity, safety, consent, and gendered norms, from their families and schools. Peers and media socialized women to view sex as fun and action centered. Given the persistent increases in sexually transmitted infections and diseases, and formation of longer-lasting romantic relationships during the college years, it is important for young adult women, including Black women, to receive adequate knowledge and skills to advocate for safe and healthy romantic sexual relationships. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Adolescent exposure to racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods and schools: Implications for interracial dating, cohabitation, and marriage in emerging and young adulthood

Background: Interracial romantic relationships and unions are a marker of social distance between racial and ethnic groups, but the role of geographic context at schools and neighborhoods during adolescence in shaping interracial romantic relationship formation in the transition to adulthood has been underexplored, which is important for understanding how intergroup contact in the school and neighborhood contexts during adolescence may have subsequent consequences for interracial union formation later in emerging and young adulthood. Methods: Using data from Waves I, III, and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study examines the roles of exposure to racial and ethnic diversity in schools and geographic regions in adolescence in shaping the likelihood of being in an interracial romantic relationship in emerging and young adulthood. Results: Adolescents who lived in a Census tract that had fewer of their own racial and ethnic groups were significantly more likely to be in interracial romantic relationships in emerging and in young adulthood. Adolescents who attended more racially and ethnically diverse high schools were also more likely to be in interracial romantic relationships in emerging adulthood. In young adulthood, Hispanic adolescents who went to primarily White high schools were more likely to be in interracial romantic relationships in emerging adulthood and young adulthood. Conclusions: Exposure to racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods and schools is associated with an increased likelihood of interracial union formation in emerging and young adulthood.

I've been thinkin' bout you: socially distant relationship pursuit during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has radically altered everyday interactions, potentially disrupting the process of romantic relationship formation. Prior research suggests that threats to the basic psychological need for relatedness, along with negative mental imagery, can lead to an obsessive preoccupation with a romantic interest. The present research examines how the relatedness-threatening nature of the pandemic may similarly facilitate problematic relationship behaviors. Two studies—a small-scale natural experiment with measurements before and during the pandemic (Study 1) and a daily diary study (Study 2)—investigated how relatedness frustration and negative fantasies predict presumptuous romantic intentions. In Study 1 these threats unexpectedly corresponded to reduced presumptuous romantic intentions, though no such main effect was present in Study 2. Replicating prior experimental work, in both studies, more negative fantasies about a romantic target predicted greater presumptuous romantic intentions. Study 2 also revealed that at the between-person level the combinatory effect of relatedness frustration and negative fantasies led to greater intentions. At the within-person level, this combinatory effect led unexpectedly to reduced intentions. Finally, there was substantial heterogeneity in the within-person effect of COVID-induced relatedness frustration: although frustration stoked intentions for some individuals, for others it reduced intentions. This work suggests that for many, the early social ramifications of COVID-19 reduced motivation to presumptuously pursue romantic relationships. Yet, certain individuals, particularly those with more negative fantasies, are more prone to pursue presumptuously amidst the pandemic.

Effects of a D2 receptor antagonist on repeated pair bond formation in the male prairie vole

Repeated formation and subsequent dissolution of romantic relationships is common in humans across a lifetime. The socially monogamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) is used to study mechanisms of these bonds. At least in the laboratory, male prairie voles form bonds with a new female partner after loss of a previous partner. Initial bond formation depends on activation of dopamine D2-like receptors in the nucleus accumbens. Blocking activity of this receptor subtype disrupts formation of an animal's first pair bond. It is not known if these same D2-like receptors facilitate pair bonding with a subsequent partner after previous partner loss. This study examined the effects of D2-like receptor blockade on repeated pair bonding in male prairie voles. Males were paired with an initial female and allowed to mate before being separated. After a 5-day separation, males were then treated with either saline or eticlopride, a selective D2-receptor antagonist, prior to being paired with a second female and being allowed to mate. After a second separation, males were tested to determine if they developed a preference for spending time with their first or second mate. Eticlopride-treated males spent more time in a cage containing one of their previous partners compared to time in an empty cage but did not form a selective preference for either partner. Saline-treated males preferred their second, more recent partner. D2 receptor antagonism, then, disrupts bond formation in a second pairing but does not help to maintain a bond with the initial partner.

Adolescents' Partner Search in the Digital Age: Correlates and Characteristics of Relationships Initiated Online.

Digital technology and social media platforms have transformed the ways adolescents communicate and cultivate romantic relationships, but few studies consider whether relationships initiated online are less salutary than those formed in person. A sample of 531 adolescents (Mean age = 16.7 years, SD = 0.358; 55% female) was recruited from an ongoing birth cohort study and administered bi-weekly diaries over a year to evaluate the circumstances associated with adolescents' romantic relationship formation and relationship quality. Two-thirds of respondents initiated one or more romantic relationships during the study, of which 15% were initiated online. Girls who did not fit in well at school and who had difficulty making friends were more likely to initiate romantic relationships online than their more sociable peers who fit in well at school; for boys, however, access to mobile devices increased the odds that romantic relationships were initiated online. The diaries captured considerable flux in the evolution of romantic relationships, but there was limited evidence that relationships initiated online involved greater risks, with the notable exception of greater age asymmetry.

It's a Match!: Perceived Effectiveness of Romantic Relationship Formation Using Dating Applications

It's a Match!: Perceived Effectiveness of Romantic Relationship Formation Using Dating Applications

Konstruksi Identitas dan Relasi Interpersonal oleh Roleplayer Artis K-Pop di Twitter

Indonesia is a country with the highest development of the K-Pop target market in Southeast Asia. This also raises various participatory behaviors from fans. One form of participatory behavior is roleplaying, which is playing roles on social media using a K-Pop artist's identity. As roleplayers, they will present themselves as K-Pop artists and build relationships with other roleplayers. Twitter is the social media most commonly used by roleplayers because of its features that support identity presentation and personal communication with other people. Even though they use other people's identities, roleplayers will also build various interpersonal relationships with fellow roleplayers like in the real world, from friendships to romantic relationships. This study aims to explain how K-Pop artist roleplayers construct their identity and interpersonal relationships through Twitter. This research used symbolic interactionism theory as the guide. The research method used is qualitative, with research data obtained through questionnaires with open-ended questions and analyzed thematically. From the answers of 131 respondents, K-Pop artists' identity was the object that roleplayers were trying to present. They present it by providing factual information about the artist and forming a good self-image. The way they present the K-Pop artist's identity will affect their interactions with other roleplayers, which have several determining factors, namely similarities, trust, feedback, and the parasocial relationship with the used muse. This interaction will determine the formation of interpersonal relationships, including friendship and romantic relationships. There are different types of real-world roleplayer information given between their friends and lovers.

Longitudinal Associations Between Depressive Symptoms and Quality of Romantic Relationships in Late Adolescence

While youth with higher levels of depressive symptoms appear to have lower quality romantic relationships, little is known about longitudinal associations for both men and women. Therefore, this study used longitudinal dyadic design to examine both concurrent and longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and positive as well as negative aspects of romantic relationship quality across two waves one- or two-years apart. The sample consisted of 149 Dutch stable heterosexual couples (149 females and 142 males participated at T1) in a stable romantic relationship in late adolescence with a mean age of 20.43 years old at the first wave. Actor-Partner Interdependence models were used to examine potential bidirectional associations over time between depressive symptoms and romantic relationship quality, above and beyond potential concurrent associations and stability of the constructs over time, from the perspective of both romantic partners. Results consistently indicated that men and women who reported higher levels of depressive symptoms perceived less positive aspects (intimacy and support) and more negative aspects (conflict) in their romantic relationship over time. In addition, unexpectedly, when men and women perceived more positive relationship aspects, their partners reported higher levels of depressive symptoms over time. These findings stress that depressive symptoms can interfere with the formation of high-quality romantic relationships.

Does Facebook ‘threaten’ romantic relationships? Online surveillance and couple visibility behaviours in romantic jealousy and couple relationship quality in a sample of Italian women

ABSTRACT Facebook has been identified as one of the most influential social network site (SNS) in the formation, maintenance and interruption of romantic relationships. Over the last decade, several studies have been carried out on Facebook and romantic relationships; however, there is still lack of evidence on how the reciprocal perceptions of partners’ behaviours on Facebook relate with couple relationship quality. This study aimed to fill this gap examing whether and to what extent participants’ surveillance and visibility behaviour related with the perception of their partner’s surveillance and visibility behaviour, and to what extent this perception related with both romantic jealousy and relationship quality. A sample of 635 heterosexual women having a romantic relationship participated in a study, which consisted of answering an online questionnaire with items on both the participants’ and their partner’s online behaviour. Path analyses were used for testing the hypotheses. Results showed that Facebook supported behaviours that can affect the quality of romantic relationship. Contrary to what expected, both online surveillance and couple visibility positively related with romantic jealousy, which in turn mediated the relation between surveillance and relationship quality, thereby worsening the participants’ perception of couple relationship quality.

Motivation for the Formation and Maintenance of Romantic Relationships and the Behaviors Predicted in Romantic Conflict

Motivation for the Formation and Maintenance of Romantic Relationships and the Behaviors Predicted in Romantic Conflict

Fear of Rejecting Others: An Overlooked Construct in Dating Anxiety

Dating anxiety may significantly impair the formation of romantic relationships. Given the clinical importance of dating anxiety, understanding underlying cognitive features is imperative to determine appropriate treatment. Research on romantic relationship termination and partner choice suggests individuals with dating anxiety, in addition to fearing rejection, may fear rejecting potential romantic partners. This study examined the relation between dating-specific fear of negative evaluation (DFNE), fear of positive evaluation (FPE), and fear of rejecting others (FRO) to identify potentially relevant cognitive factors to dating anxiety. We found that FRO and FPE were significantly and positively related to DFNE. We also found that FRO had a significant relation to DFNE after accounting for FPE. Implications of our findings are discussed.

Social Norms and Expectations about Student Loans and Family Formation

Social norms and expectations regarding marriage or childbearing while in debt—or with an indebted partner—may explain links between student loans and lower family formation rates. This study analyzes an original survey of college students (N = 2,990) at two universities examining how student loans will, would, or should affect romantic relationship and family formation decisions. A significant minority believed marriage should be delayed and nearly half believed childbearing should be delayed when people have student loan debt. Many reported they would hesitate to marry someone with high student debt, their loans would delay family formation, and they would form families earlier if their debt were forgiven. Those with loan debt and higher debt were more willing to partner with those who had high student debt. Women were less likely to believe people should delay childbearing and marriage because of loans, but more hesitant to marry a partner with high student debt. Findings suggest social norms underlie childbearing and marriage delays among those with loans, and student loan debt creates a class divide among the highly educated.

Emerging Ideas. Health Technology Use and Perceptions of Romantic Relationships by Emerging Adults With Type 1 Diabetes

ObjectiveExplore perceptions of health technology use among emerging adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and their interactions with romantic partners about their diabetes.BackgroundDating and the formation of romantic relationships are key features of emerging adulthood. However, emerging adults with T1D may experience dating relationships in a unique way due to managing T1D. Health technology use may play an important role in those dating relationships.MethodTwelve emerging adults with T1D (average time since diagnosis = 9 years) participated in two focus groups during a weekend program with the College Diabetes Network in Boston, MA.FindingsQualitative analysis revealed an overarching context of health technology use in relation to dating relationships among emerging adults with T1D. Within this context, three descriptive themes emerged: sensitivity to the perceptions of others, an emphasis on boundaries and independence, and T1D partner support.ConclusionTechnology plays a central role in the way that emerging adults with T1D interact with romantic partners. Insulin pumps, body sites, continuous glucose monitoring devices, and the sharing of technology all factor into decisions and methods of concealing and disclosing and the development of digitally supported intimacy.Implications for Emerging IdeasT1D may place individuals in unique circumstances within romantic relationships. Professionals could educate those with T1D about technological and social aspects of T1D management.