Browsing by Subject "Courtship"
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Item An examination of temporal agency in courtship narratives(2012-05) Kurlak, Rebecca Mary; McGlone, Matthew S., 1966-; Vangelisti, Anita L.The reported study investigated temporal agency (i.e., the assignment of cause for temporal shift) in newlyweds’ courtship narratives. Transcripts of courtship narratives generated by each partner of 23 recently married couples (approximately 3 months) participating in the PAIR project (Huston, McHale, & Crouter, 1986) were analyzed for the presence of different linguistic strategies for encoding temporal shift. Statements were coded as “human agency assignments” when they assigned the cause of temporal shift to humans (e.g., we started seeing each other in June); statements that assigned temporal shift to abstract entities such as the events themselves (e.g., the summer started out well for us) or to the relationship (e.g., the relationship started to slow down) were coded as “abstract agency assignments.” The frequency with which narrators mentioned positiveand negative emotions was also coded to explore the possibility that emotional valence mediated agency assignments. The frequency of different agency assignments and emotion words were considered in the context of portions of the courtship accounts that narrators designated as describing “upturns” (episodes that increased the likelihood of marriage) or “downturns” (episodes that decreased marriage likelihood). Results indicated that the frequency of human agency assignments and positive emotion mention were higher in upturn than downturn narrative segments; in contrast, abstract agency assignments and negative emotion mention were more frequent in downturn than upturn segments. Subsequent analyses indicated that positive word mention partially mediated human agency assignments in upturns and that negative word mention partially mediated abstract agency assignments in downturns. These findings are consistent with previous research demonstrating an association between the emotional valence of an event and temporal agency assignment: In general, people assign temporal agency to themselves when describing positive events, but prefer abstract agency assignments for negative events (McGlone & Pfiester, 2009).Item The Goldilocks Principle : do deviations from the average courtship predict divorce?(2009-12) Smith, Ashley Michelle; Loving, Timothy J.; Huston, Ted L.; Neff, Lisa A.The benefits of being average were examined within the context of romantic relationships by focusing on courtship progression and events for 164 married couples. The courtship progression was captured using a graph of the fluctuations in the percentage chance of marriage for each spouse from when couples first began dating up until the wedding day. Five factors were then used to capture the graph: Time elapsed to progress from 25 to 75% chance of marriage, turbulence in chance of marriage values, average change in percent chance of marriage between relationship events, courtship length, and the sum of squared deviations from a straight line connecting when couples first started dating until their marriage date. Couples also reported on the timing of important relationship events (i.e., meeting parents, first fell in love, first sexual intercourse, and engagement) that were then compared to the order of the average courtship event progression. Deviations from the average courtship in terms of either graphical or event indicators did not significantly predict whether or not couples divorced in the first 13 years of marriage.Item Shared reality in courtship : does it matter for marital success?(2011-05) Wilson, April Christine; Huston, Ted L.; Loving, Timothy; Gleason, Marci; Neff, Lisa; Vangelisti, AnitaThis study provides evidence that individuals who share similar experiences that are grounded in the actual features of the courtship are likely to remain married over 13 years later. Using logistic regression and path analyses to examine 168 married partners, results support previous research suggesting that “enduring dynamics” best predicts the developmental pathway for couples who remain married, whereas “disillusionment” prefigures marital instability. Specifically, findings revealed that marriages are more likely to be stable when premarital partners (a) feel similar depths of love for one another, (b) move toward marriage at comparable rates over the course of the courtship, and when feelings of (c) love and (d) ambivalence reflect how frequently they experience conflict and downturns in their estimations of the likelihood of marriage. Gender differences and exceptions to this pattern are discussed.Item "We'll get married if it rains": Farm women, courtship, and marriage in 1950s west Texas(2007-08) Humphreys, Krystal Amanda; Willett, Julie; McBee, Randy D.This thesis is a study of courtship and the development of dating in 1950s West Texas. But aside from simply looking at courtship, this project is also a community study as it focuses mainly on life in and around Sudan, Texas. My grandmother’s hometown is a tiny farming community in the Panhandle of West Texas. Sudan is far removed from the bustling urban centers and college campuses that previous studies of courtship and dating have focused on. How did love and romance develop in such an unromantic place? Previous studies have shown us that urban areas with their dance halls, amusement parks, and rich sense of youth culture were the perfect places for romance to be found. This study looks at an area where romance seems unlikely if not impossible. It looks at the reasons why farming communities are seen as unromantic and the ways in which young men and women find and create love and how they make it last.