Browsing by Subject "intimacy"
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Item Assessing conflict and intimacy for understanding and treating couple distress(Texas A&M University, 2005-02-17) Sheffield, Rachael Le AnnIt has become increasingly apparent that the topic of marital conflict has been given ?special status? within the published literature on issues of marriage (Bradbury, Rogge, & Lawrence, 2001; Fincham, 2003). The question has been raised as to whether or not there are other constructs that deserve comparable attention. The present study argues for a closer look at an additional emerging construct, emotional intimacy, and its role in couples? relationships. Much of the literature on overt conflict and emotional intimacy fails to make an adequate distinction between these two constructs. The present study proposed to derive two factor scales from the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised, Disaffection and Disharmony. Basic psychometric properties of these scales were examined using multiple data sets. Implications were examined for understanding underlying components of relationship distress in both community and clinic couples, and results provided support for the use of the revised factor scales in both clinical and research applications.Item Does attachment style influence intimacy following high- and low- risk interactions: an application of the APIM model(Texas A&M University, 2005-02-17) Joseph, Jana IleneThis study examined the relation between attachment characteristics and intimacy experienced after one?s attachment style is activated. Attachment theory states that when an individual feels threatened by an attachment figure, attachment style is activated and dictates how that individual relates to his or her partner in that situation. This study tests this theory. Data were collected on 110 committed romantic couples from the community. Each individual completed a series of questionnaires, including the Adult Attachment Questionnaire. Couples then engaged in a series of four videotaped interactions in which both partners had an opportunity to discuss times in which their feelings were hurt by someone other than their partner and times in which their feelings were hurt by their partner. These interactions were regarded as low- and high-risk, respectively. The high-risk interaction was specifically targeted to activate attachment style and elicit attachment behaviors. Analyses were conducted using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM). This model takes into account the interdependence of observations between partners. As a function of this model, both actor effects (the effect one?s own attachment style has on one?s own experiences of intimacy) and partner effects (the effect one?s own attachment style has on one?s partner?s experiences of intimacy) were examined. Intimacy was conceptualized in two different manners: state (post-interaction intimacy) and trait (overall intimacy in the relationship). It was hypothesized that individuals with insecure attachment characteristics would report lower feelings of both state and trait intimacy compared to securely attached individuals. It was also predicted that the partners of individuals with insecure attachment characteristics would report lower state and trait intimacy following the high-risk interaction compared to partners of secure individuals. The results of this study supported these hypotheses. Models testing the effect of the attachment characteristics avoidance, ambivalence, and avoidance-x-ambivalence found a relation between the presence of insecure attachment characteristics and lower levels of both state and trait intimacy. Implications of these results and future directions of study are discussed.Item Narrative Intimacy in Contemporary American Fiction for Adolescent Women(2011-10-21) Day, Sara K.This dissertation offers the term ?narrative intimacy? to refer to an implicit relationship between narrator and reader that depends upon disclosure and trust. By examining contemporary American fiction for adolescent women by critically- and commercially-successful authors such as Sarah Dessen, Stephenie Meyer, and Laurie Halse Anderson, I explore the use of narrative intimacy as a means of reflecting and reinforcing larger, often contradictory, cultural expectations regarding adolescent women, interpersonal relationships, and intimacy. Specifically, I investigate the possibility that adolescent women narrators construct understandings of the adolescent woman reader as a friend, partner in desire, or ?bibliotherapist,? which in turn allow the narrator to understand the reader as a safe and appropriate location for disclosure. At the same time, the novels I discuss offer frequent warnings against the sort of unfettered disclosure the narrators perform in their relationships with the reader: friendships are marked as potential sites of betrayal and rejection, while romantic relationships are presented as inherently threatening to physical and emotional health. In order to interrogate the construction of narrative intimacy, I rely upon a tradition of narrative and reception theory concerning the roles of narrator and reader. I also turn to other cultural representations of adolescent women and their relationships, from films, television, and magazines to the self-help and nonfiction literature that provides insight into current psychological, sociological, and anthropological understandings of adolescent womanhood. Ultimately, I argue, the prevalence of narrative intimacy in fiction for adolescent women reflects a complex system that encourages adolescent women to seek intimate interpersonal relationships even as it discourages the type and degree of disclosure that is ostensibly required in the development of intimacy. The narrator thus turns to the reader because the ?logical gap??to borrow a term from Peter Lamarque?between fiction and reality allows for a construction of the reader as a recipient of disclosure who cannot respond with the threats of criticism, judgment, or rejection that may be presented by other characters within the text. The reader, in turn, may come to depend upon narrative intimacy as a space through which to vicariously explore her own understanding of intimacy.Item Testing emotion dysregulation as a moderator in an interpersonal process model of intimacy in couples(2009-05-15) Herrington, RachaelAlthough theorists, researchers, and therapists alike emphasize emotional intimacy as an important aspect of a couple?s relationship, empirical data to understand the underlying processes behind this concept are lacking. The purpose of this study is to examine Reis and Shaver?s interpersonal process model of intimacy in a community sample of couples and to contribute to the current understanding of constructs that may moderate the process of intimacy. Reis and Shaver?s model suggests that vulnerable self-disclosure by one partner, coupled with empathic responding by the other partner, results in greater subjective emotional intimacy. Previous studies have examined this interpersonal process model in a sample of community couples in committed romantic relationships. The present study aims to contribute to the extant literature by testing emotion dysregulation as a potential moderator in Reis and Shaver?s interpersonal process model of intimacy. Multilevel modeling was used to analyze data from 108 community couples. Couples completed measures and were asked to participate in videotaped interactions in which each partner discussed a time that someone other than the partner hurt their feelings (low threat condition) and a time the partner hurt their feelings (high threat condition). For each interaction, partners were assigned to a designated role (speaker or listener). Results lend support to Reis and Shaver?s interpersonal process model of intimacy suggesting that both vulnerable self-disclosure and empathic responding by the partner are key components to one?s subjective experience of emotional intimacy. Results also lend support to the idea that emotion dysregulation moderates the relation between self-disclosure, empathic responding, and resulting post-interaction intimacy; however, when measuring how emotion dysregulation affects post-interaction intimacy within this study, results varied based on whose intimacy was being measured (speaker or listener) and based on the condition (low or high threat.) Clinical implications as well as directions for future research were discussed.Item The effect of perceived and observed behaviors on feelings of intimacy: a comparison of "insider" versus "outsider" perspectives(2009-05-15) Mitchell, Alexandra ElizabethAccording to the interpersonal process model, interactions characterized by self-disclosure and empathic responding foster emotional intimacy between the two participating individuals (Reis & Shaver, 1988). This study provided ?insider? and ?outsider? perspectives of this model, examining the relation between perceived and observed behaviors in couple interactions and their relative contributions to the development of intimate feelings. The sample consisted of 102 community couples who completed measures of intimacy after engaging in videotaped discussions about relationship injuries that occurred both within and outside of the relationship. Both self-report and observational measures were used to assess disclosure and empathic responding during these discussions. There was significant agreement between self- and observer-report of men?s behavior, between self- and observer-report of women?s male partner?s behavior, and between partners? report of disclosure and empathic responding. There was mixed support for global distress and attachment style as predictors of differences between self- and observer-report. Whereas an earlier study using observational measures found gender differences in the effect of self-disclosure and empathic responding on intimacy (Mitchell et al., 2008), in this study self-report measures from the same sample indicated that perception of both an individual?s own and his or her partner?s disclosure and empathic responding predicted intimacy for both men and women. Observational measures provided incremental validity relative to self-report measures in predicting intimacy. These findings suggest that targeting certain personal and relational characteristics may be helpful in treating intimacy deficits and also indicate that self-report and observational measures provide unique information about the influence of behaviors on the development of intimate feelings in couple relationships.Item Visualizing rhythms of intimacy in email communication(Texas A&M University, 2006-04-12) Mandic, MirkoEmail has developed into one of the most extensively used computer applications. Email interfaces, on the other hand, have gone through very few transformations since their inception. As the growing volumes of email data accumulate in users' email boxes, these interfaces fail to provide effective message handling and browsing support. Saved email messages provide not only a vast and pulsating record of one's electronic past, but also a potential source of valuable insights into the structure and dynamics of one's social network. In this thesis, we introduce a visualization approach to email that draws upon email??s inherently personal character and uses intimacy as a key parameter. We have developed faMailiar, a novel email interface that visualizes email in a chronological manner through two alternative, calendar-like views that present email activity on different time granularity scales. Visual mappings of email data and support for filtering help the user see rhythms and patterns in her social interactions. Zooming, panning and implicit semantic zooming facilitate navigation across large email collections. This thesis also describes our iterative, human-centered design method. Two user studies have been performed at different stages of the process, and we explain their purpose, results and implications.