Participants were 18 to 58 years of age with 54.4% Caucasian, 32.2% Asian, 6.5% multiethnic, 5.7% Pacific Islander, 3% Hispanic and 2.2% African-American.
Participants completed questionnaires at two points 4 months apart. Initially researchers visited classrooms and recruited participants to report on a current romantic relationship, defined as one that contains stronger feelings of affection, attachment, or closeness than found in typical friendships and could range from casually dating to marriage. Participants recorded the romantic partners' initials on the first page of the questionnaire to enable matching with the follow-up survey. Data was then collected 4 months later via email which included an online link to a questionnaire asking them to report on the current status of the relationship they reported on at Time 1, as well as the quality of that relationship. Of the 230 participants who completed the initial questionnaire, 123 completed the follow-up questionnaire.
The study found that that people are more positive about their relationships and stay in those relationships when they use commitment indicators more often, are more highly...
The authors concluded that "Given the centrality of relationships in people's lives, we believe that by creating a better understanding of the strategies and mechanisms involved in the communication of commitment, scholars can help paint a clearer picture of how people create and sustain committed, stable relationships" (p. 48).
This study adds to the current literature pertaining to the communication shill necessary to maintain and strengthen personal relationships. The findings may be used to aid individuals and therapists in this endeavor. Thirty-nine references were cited in all, twenty-seven journal articles, eleven books, and one paper.
Further research questions that may be explored are: 1) How do these findings apply to relationships between individuals from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds? 2) How do these findings apply to couples with significant (< 10) year's difference in age? 3) How do these findings apply to same sex couples?
References
Weigel, D.J., Brown, C., & O'Riordan, C.K. (2011, January-June). Everyday expressions of…
