Jerika C. Norona

“I Learned Things That Make Me Happy, Things That Bring Me Down”: Lessons From Romantic Relationships in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood

Early romantic relationships have been described as the “learning context” and “training ground” for future intimate relationships; however, research has yet to examine the lessons that individuals take away from such relationships. In the present mixed-methods, longitudinal study, 348 adolescents and emerging adults (53% girls/young women) between the ages of 15 and 23 years were asked to reflect on and report the lessons they learned from romantic relationships in which they were involved 1 year ago (Time 1). These lessons were found to reflect the areas of romantic competence proposed by Shulman et al., including social cognitive maturity, romantic agency, and coherence. Quantitative analyses revealed that girls/young women more often referenced all three of the investigated areas of romantic competence than did boys/young men. In addition, emerging adults and individuals whose relationships were still intact at Time 2 more often referenced social cognitive maturity and coherence, whereas adolescents and individuals whose relationships ended by Time 2 more often referenced romantic agency. Furthermore, qualitative analyses revealed important gender and age differences in the ways adolescent girls and boys and emerging adult women and men described their lessons. In general, results suggest an experiential component to the development of romantic competence that complements developmental factors.

Breaking Up in Emerging Adulthood A Developmental Perspective of Relationship Dissolution

Using a unique sample of individuals who have and have not attended college, the present mixed-methods study examined narratives of 113 (47% women) emerging adults’ motivations for initiating breakups with romantic partners. Findings indicated that emerging adults’ motivations for ending their romantic relationships were largely due to their relationships and/or their romantic partners not fulfilling their needs for interdependence. Additionally, unmet intimacy, identity, and autonomy needs were the most frequently reported reasons for relationship termination, indicating that emerging adults consider both their need to be close with others and their need to follow their own paths for their careers and desires for family formation. This study also demonstrated links between perceptions of developmental tasks in emerging adulthood and motivations for ending romantic relationships. Those who end romantic relationships due to unfulfilled intimacy needs tend to be more relationally focused, and those who end romantic relationships due to unfulfilled autonomy or identity needs tend to view emerging adulthood as a time of experimentation/possibilities, feeling “in between,” and negativity/instability. Implications for the role of relationship dissolution in emerging adult development are discussed.

Betrayals in Emerging Adulthood: A Developmental Perspective of Infidelity

Infidelity is associated with considerable distress and discord in dating relationships. The current mixed methods study examined both the written narratives and survey responses of 104 (59.6% women) emerging adults to investigate reasons for engaging in infidelity (i.e., sexual and emotional infidelity). Emerging adults’ reasons for engaging in infidelity were attributed primarily to their primary relationships and/or their romantic partners not fulfilling their needs for interdependence and thus feeling motivated to fulfill these needs elsewhere. Although the majority of participants provided independence and/or interdependence reasons for their infidelity, a large proportion of responses (40%) referenced alternative reasons. These responses included (a) the opportunity to become intimate with an infidelity partner while under the influence of alcohol, (b) attraction to an infidelity partner, and (c) the excitement and novelty that the infidelity experience provided. Those who reported engaging in infidelity because of unmet interdependence needs, and intimacy needs in particular, were more avoidantly attached than those who did not reference unmet interdependence needs. Those who reported engaging in infidelity because of unmet independence needs were more anxiously attached than those who did not reference unmet independence needs. Implications for the developmental importance of infidelity in terms of research and applied work are discussed.

Changes in rejection sensitivity across adolescence and emerging adulthood: Associations with relationship involvement, quality, and coping

Using a sample of 110 Israeli youth (72% female), the present study investigates associations between initial levels of rejection sensitivity as well as changes in rejection sensitivity from age 16 to age 23 and relationship involvement, quality, and (growth following) coping with relationship stress. Results showed that rejection sensitivity generally decreased over time into the transition to adulthood. Furthermore, levels of rejection sensitivity at age 16 predicted whether young people were romantically involved by age 23, as well as the quality of their relationships. Yet, the change in level of rejection sensitivity over time explained far more the quality of later romantic relationships and competence in coping with relationship stress than the initial level of rejection sensitivity. These findings have important implications for examining the role of changes in personality attributes such as rejection sensitivity in the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Does Role Balance Influence the Effect of Personality on College Success? A Mediation Model:

While the relationship between individual factors, including personality dimensions, and tertiary academic outcomes is well established, the mechanisms by which these factors influence academic success have been less fully explored. This study tested one potential mechanism, the developmental task of role balance, by which personality may influence college success. During emerging adulthood, young people simultaneously explore and establish both individual and relational role identities. As part of this process, these emerging adults work to balance their individual roles with their relational roles in order to maximize success and satisfaction across domains. Using a college student sample (N = 299), this study used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test role balance as a mediator between personality dimensions and multiple indicators of college success. Tests indicated that role balance partially mediates the relationship between conscientiousness and neuroticism and college satisfaction but is not associated with other traditional measures of college achievement (grade point average, intention to withdraw).

Do differences matter? A typology of emerging adult romantic relationship

Romantic relationships among emerging adults (individuals aged 18–25 years) are typically homogenously classified both theoretically and empirically as “exploratory” and “unstable.” With a sample of college students (N = 340), we examined within-group variation among romantic relationships in emerging adulthood using latent class analyses. Four predictor variables indicated four types of romantic relationships among emerging adult college students: the committers (38%), the casual daters (23%), the settlers (30%), and the volatile daters (8%). Classes varied according to background variables such as gender and infidelity. Additionally, there was class variation for outcome variables such as breakup status and loneliness. Future research and implications are discussed.

Developmental Trajectories and Health Outcomes Among Emerging Adult Women and Men

With a recent sample of emerging adults, the present longitudinal study examines multiple role trajectories that emerging adult women and men in the United States tend to traverse between the ages of 18 and 25, thereby partially replicating and furthering the work of Amato et al. Furthermore, the present study examines the physical and mental health of emerging adults in various trajectories. Findings revealed three trajectories for emerging adult women, including (1) work and school to some family formation (56.2% of women), (2) school to family formation (11.5% of women), and (3) some school to early family formation (32.3% of women). Women who transitioned from (3) some school to early family formation were more psychologically distressed than those who transitioned from (1) work and school to some family formation. Women who transitioned from (3) some school to early family formation also experienced significant declines in physical health. For emerging adult men, findings revealed three trajectories, including (1) work and early family formation (9.4% of men), (2) school to family formation (32.1% of men), and (3) school to work (58.5% of men). Men in the (2) school to family formation trajectory experienced less psychological distress over time. These findings point to certain trajectories that might be particularly beneficial for emerging adults’ physical and psychological health.

The Symbolic Nature of Trust in Heterosexual Adolescent Romantic Relationships

Abstract Trust contributes to young people’s capacity for sustaining current and future successful relationships. To date, research has yet to examine the meaning of trust in early dating relationships and reasons for its deterioration. The present study focused on video-recorded conversations about trust between 34 heterosexual adolescent couples in dating relationships living in the U.S. Transcripts from these conversations were qualitatively analyzed using thematic analysis to identify adolescents’ meanings of trust and reasons they provided for a lack of trust in their romantic partners. All 34 couples identified concerns specifically related to infidelity. Six major themes for not trusting romantic partners emerged. Results suggested that the lack of trust in romantic relationships might stem from several areas that are directly and indirectly related to the current relationship, including low self-esteem, the experience of betrayal in past romantic relationships, partners’ extradyadic behaviors, and gossip among peers. Importantly, peers can play a defining role in influencing young people’s perceptions of their romantic partners and developing or sustaining trust in their romantic relationships.

Predicting post-breakup distress and growth in emerging adulthood: The roles of relationship satisfaction and emotion regulation

With a sample of emerging adults (N = 110; 72% female) this brief report utilized self-report measures to examine the role of relationship satisfaction and emotion regulation strategies assessed at age 20 in predicting breakup distress and posttraumatic growth three years later. Results showed that higher relationship satisfaction is associated with less future breakup distress. Emotion regulation explained the ways individuals cope with distress; cognitive appraisal (in contrast to emotional suppression) predicted higher growth after experiencing a breakup. Findings highlight the ways emotion regulation strategies can help emerging adults cope with relational stressors such as breakups.

How Do College Experience and Gender Differentiate the Enactment of Hookup Scripts Among Emerging Adults

Empirical attention to “hooking up” has expanded over time, yet limited attention has been devoted to understanding the hookup experiences of emerging adults (ages 18–25) who have not attended college and how they may differ from those who have attended college. Guided by life course and scripting theories, we used a storytelling methodology to content analyze the hookup stories of a large sample of college-attending and non-college emerging adults (N = 407). We also compared stories based on gender, as several studies report gender differences but have yet to consider how hookup scripts may differ between men and women. Overall, we found that college-attending and non-college emerging adults reported using similar hookup scripts in their most recent hookup experience, as did emerging adult men and women. However, we found that greater proportions of non-college emerging adults reported sexual touch, meeting in an “other location,” and positive reactions to their most recent hookup. Greater proportions of college-attending emerging adults reported their hookup occurred in a house/apartment. In terms of gender, greater proportions of women reported “having sex” and deep kissing, hooking up with an acquaintance, partner characteristics as a reason to hookup, and negative reactions to their most recent hookup. Greater proportions of men reported hooking up with a stranger, meeting at a bar/club, hooking up at a party, and hooking up at an “other location.” Implications for future research and sexual health education and intervention are discussed.