UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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2006 - 20102

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Author: search.filters.author.Curtis, Ryan Dean

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    The Effect of Rejection on Previously Established Relationships: Similarity Plays a Role
    (2010) Curtis, Ryan Dean; Sigall, Harold; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Previous research has found that people who are rejected will sometimes seek to affiliate with strangers after a rejection episode (Maner et al. 2007; Williams & Sommer, 1997). This effect is theorized to reflect seeking for belonging (Smart Richman & Leary, 2009). Research testing how rejection affects relationships with previously established relationship partners, (who were not a party to the rejection) is lacking. Three hypotheses were tested. Hypothesis 1 was that people seek to bolster belonging with established relationship partners following a rejection episode. Study 1 found that female participants indicated bolstering of belonging with a trustworthy friend after recalling a rejection experience. Hypothesis 2 was that people would bolster belonging first with relationship others who share relationship criteria with the rejecter. Study 2a found that the betrayal experienced by heterosexual participants during their most recent breakup predicted their bolstering toward an opposite-sex, but not a same-sex, friend. Study 2b used a measure of rejection instead of betrayal but did not replicate the results of Study 2a. Study 3 manipulated rejection and found that heterosexual participants rejected by a physically attractive other indicated bolstering of belonging toward an opposite-sex, but not a same-sex, friend. Hypothesis 3 was that people would bolster belonging with relationship others who shared idiosyncratic similarities with the rejecter. Rejection and idiosyncratic similarity of a friend to the rejecter were manipulated in Study 4. The results did not support the hypothesis. Potential explanations for these results as well as possible future research are discussed.
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    Determinants of Communal Strength: The Effects of the Other's Likeability and of Benefiting the Other
    (2006-12-04) Curtis, Ryan Dean; Mills, Judson; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This research investigated potential determinants of communal strength. Communal strength refers to the degree of motivation to respond to a communal partner's needs. It was hypothesized that increased liking for the other and giving a benefit to the other would each increase communal strength toward the other. Female participants completed pretest and posttest measures of communal strength toward another female student. Participants heard an audiotape that made the other sound likable or unlikable and in need of advice or not in need of advice. The participants gave advice to the other or observed someone else giving advice to the other. The results of an analysis of covariance of the posttest measure of communal strength, controlling for the pretest measure of communal strength, revealed support for both hypotheses. Communal strength toward the other increased when the other was likable, and when the person gave a benefit to the other.