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Romantic Nostalgia: Examining The Motivational And Relational Outcomes, Margaret Kneuer Jan 2023

Romantic Nostalgia: Examining The Motivational And Relational Outcomes, Margaret Kneuer

Theses and Dissertations

Romantic nostalgia, or the sentimental longing and wistful affection towards a romantic partner (Evans et al., in press), is a type of nostalgia pertaining to relationships that has not been addressed widely in the current literature. The goal of this research is to investigate whether romantic nostalgia buffers against conflict and promotes motivational benefits to the relationship. I extend the work on the restorative nature of nostalgia to close relationships and explore cognitive, motivational, and behavioral relationship maintenance strategies. Study 1 sampled university students currently in romantic relationships to examine the association between romantic nostalgia proneness and compassionate goals. Romantic …


Work Hope And The Socioemotional Functioning Of Offenders, David Guion Nov 2013

Work Hope And The Socioemotional Functioning Of Offenders, David Guion

Theses and Dissertations

For offenders returning to society at record levels, securing work looms as one of the most crucial factors in successful reentry. Work hope is a construct that seeks to measure the relative presence of goals of securing desired work, thoughts about how to achieve those goals, and agency to achieve those goals, even in the presence of obstacles. This study sought to examine relationships among work hope, the socioemotional variables of attachment, emotion regulation, physical, relational, and workplace victimization, and coping, and the career-related variables of perceptions of career-related barriers and complexity level of career goals. The sample comprised cohorts …


Mother-Infant Synchrony During Infant Feeding, Barbara Reyna Dec 2010

Mother-Infant Synchrony During Infant Feeding, Barbara Reyna

Theses and Dissertations

MOTHER-INFANT SYNCHRONY DURING INFANT FEEDING By Barbara A. Reyna, PhD A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2010. Major Director: Rita H. Pickler, PhD Endowed Nursing Alumni Professor Department of Family and Community Health Nursing, School of Nursing Synchrony between a mother and her infant is fundamental to their developing relationship. Feeding is an essential activity that provides an opportunity for interaction between a mother and her infant and may lead to synchronous interaction. The purpose this study was to develop and test a …


Self-Forgiveness Interventions For Women Experiencing A Breakup, Kathryn Campana Apr 2010

Self-Forgiveness Interventions For Women Experiencing A Breakup, Kathryn Campana

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of an intervention designed to increase self forgiveness for women who have recently experienced a romantic relationship breakup. Of particular interest were the interactions between adult attachment style, treatment condition, and time. The current study examined how the following variables differ between attachment style groups and how they change over time with respect to treatment condition: aspects of the former relationship, emotional responses to personal transgressions within the relationship, general negative and positive affect, dispositional forgivingness, positive and negative attitudes toward self, feelings of unforgiveness toward self and ex-partner, and feelings of forgiveness of self …


With Or Without You: The Impact Of Partner Presence And Attachment On Exploration, Anthony Coy Apr 2010

With Or Without You: The Impact Of Partner Presence And Attachment On Exploration, Anthony Coy

Theses and Dissertations

Expanding upon past research demonstrating that attachment orientation influences adult exploration, this thesis examined the impact of both actor and partner attachment anxiety and avoidance as well as real or imagined partner presence on outcomes of exploratory behavior (study 1a) and the desire to explore (study 1b). Eighty six couples were randomly assigned to explore (i.e., a meditation activity) with or without their partner in the lab, and to imagine exploring with or without their partner when rating their desire to complete potential exploratory behaviors. The effects of actor anxiety and avoidance on exploration were moderated by partner presence for …


Conceptualizing Hoarding Behavior Among Elderly Women: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Susan Jan Murdock Jan 2006

Conceptualizing Hoarding Behavior Among Elderly Women: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Susan Jan Murdock

Theses and Dissertations

Hoarding in the community involves substantial cluttering and impaired functioning, often exposing the hoarder to extensive health and safety risks. This research, based on Functionalism social theory, explores the three elements of hoarding—relentless acquisition, intense possessiveness of objects, and a reluctance to discard possessions—as a sociocultural phenomenon. The mixed methods methodology entailed a quantitative study involving a survey completed by 134 adult protective services workers throughout Virginia and a qualitative study of five randomly-selected adult protective services workers who volunteered for in-depth interviews.Findings revealed that adult protective services workers come in contact with very severe cases of hoarding, with over …


The Social Network And Attachment Bases Of Loneliness, David M. Ouellette Jan 2004

The Social Network And Attachment Bases Of Loneliness, David M. Ouellette

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis tests Robert S. Weiss's 1973 theory of loneliness, which claims two types of loneliness: emotional and social. Emotional loneliness is the affective reaction to the absence of a close attachment bond. Social loneliness stems from inadequate integration into a social network. Undergraduate residents of a university dormitory completed questionnaires on loneliness, attachment, personality, and relationships with other dorm residents. Patterns of relational ties among participants were evaluated using social network analysis, specifically density, tie strength, and four forms of centrality. Results reveal that, while controlling for neuroticism, the network measure of outdegree and the two attachment dimensions accounted …