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Department
Psychology & Family Studies
Format of Presentation
Asynchronous
Research Category
Social Sciences
Description
Previous research has identified a link between romantic relationship formation (sliding vs. deciding) and satisfaction (Clifford et al., 2017; Vennum et al., 2015). During college, the decision to enter and maintain a romantic relationship can play a role in the relationship-churning process among young adults (Brandes & Doron, 2020; Grower & Baldwin-White, 2021). Specifically, some college students may slide into marriage or having kids (Loeb et al., 2020; Priem et al., 2015) due to financial, social, and psychological barriers that keep them from ending an unhealthy relationship (Loeb et al., 2020). To explore the effect of sliding into a relationship further, we conducted a relationship education workshop (N = 12) at a University in the Southeastern United States. We adopted the Love Notes curriculum to create a 45-minute workshop on the topics of self-reflection, communication skills, and relationship conflict management. The goal of the workshop was to increase participants self-awareness of their communication skills when they experience conflict in a relationship. Most participants identified as White females (n = 10; 76.9%), and the average age of the participants was 23.7. 2 The statistical analysis revealed participants confidence in having difficult conversations with romantic partners and their ability to recognize healthy relationships increased as a result of their participation in the workshop. Therefore, relationship education programs on college campuses can help not only develop the communication skills of college students but also positively contribute to their ability to form meaningful and healthy relationships.
Recommended Citation
Reel, Hailey and McCool, Hailey J., "Stop churning relationships by avoiding the relationship slide" (2024). Undergraduate Research Conference. 1.
https://athenacommons.muw.edu/urc/2024/oral-presentations-i/1
Included in
Stop churning relationships by avoiding the relationship slide
Previous research has identified a link between romantic relationship formation (sliding vs. deciding) and satisfaction (Clifford et al., 2017; Vennum et al., 2015). During college, the decision to enter and maintain a romantic relationship can play a role in the relationship-churning process among young adults (Brandes & Doron, 2020; Grower & Baldwin-White, 2021). Specifically, some college students may slide into marriage or having kids (Loeb et al., 2020; Priem et al., 2015) due to financial, social, and psychological barriers that keep them from ending an unhealthy relationship (Loeb et al., 2020). To explore the effect of sliding into a relationship further, we conducted a relationship education workshop (N = 12) at a University in the Southeastern United States. We adopted the Love Notes curriculum to create a 45-minute workshop on the topics of self-reflection, communication skills, and relationship conflict management. The goal of the workshop was to increase participants self-awareness of their communication skills when they experience conflict in a relationship. Most participants identified as White females (n = 10; 76.9%), and the average age of the participants was 23.7. 2 The statistical analysis revealed participants confidence in having difficult conversations with romantic partners and their ability to recognize healthy relationships increased as a result of their participation in the workshop. Therefore, relationship education programs on college campuses can help not only develop the communication skills of college students but also positively contribute to their ability to form meaningful and healthy relationships.