Authenticity In Relationships

Methodology In order to accomplish the goals of the research study and to address the gap in the authenticity literature in regards to romantic relationships, a longitudinal study will be utilized. This study will provide a better understanding of the relationship between authenticity and satisfaction in romantic relationships. More specifically, the researcher will examine participants at the formative stages of a romantic relationship in order to see if authenticity can predict the satisfaction over the course of the first six months of the relationship. Even though this design will not provide evidence of causality, the results can suggest a pathway for establishing a causal relationship in future research studies. The aim is to determine
if authenticity early in a relationship can predict the satisfaction of the relationship six months later.
Participants
In order to participate in this study, individuals will have to meet specific criteria. These criteria include dating or in a committed relationship for one month or less, in a heterosexual relationship, and they will have to be 21 years or older. A priori tests using GPOWER will be used to determine the sample size with a moderate effect size and a standard power (0.80).
Procedures
After gaining IRB approval, participants will be recruited electronically through Mturk, which is a service provided by Amazon, in which individuals can complete various research studies and receive compensation.
The study will involve providing some basic demographic information, completing the Authenticity in Relationships Scale, and the Relationship Satisfaction Survey. First, participants will complete the Authenticity in Relationships Scale upon consent to the research study. After a total of five months, which would be considered six months in the relationship, the participants will be contact again to complete the relationship satisfaction survey. If the participants are no longer in a relationship at the six month mark, then they will be able to indicate this and will not qualify for the second survey. The participants should spend no more than twenty minutes on the surveys and will be given five dollars as an incentive for their participation. It is important to note that recruiting from Mturk may pose some limitations as well. Since it is not a random sample of individuals, the participants may have a bias towards the topic that would influence their response. In other words, this study may attract individuals who feel authenticity is important or feel they are authentic and this would not provide the best generalizability of the results. The results will then be analyzed and the researcher will use a regression in order to determine if authenticity scores predict
relationship satisfaction six months later.
Measures
Demographic Questionnaire. A short demographic measure will be created by the researcher will be used to supplement the data and control for other variables. This survey will include age, gender, ethnicity/race, and length of time in relationship.
Relationship Assessment Scale (Hendrick, 1988). This scale is used to measure general relationship satisfaction, how well a partner meets one’s needs, how well the relationship compares to others, and one’s regrets about the relationship. High scores represent more satisfaction with the relationship and this measures general satisfaction not specifically satisfaction in a marriage. This makes sense to use, since our population will not be married individuals. The internal consistency showed an alpha level of 0.86. The self-report measure consists of 7 items with a Likert scale response from 1(strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Example of items include, “How well does your partner meet your needs?” and “How good is your relationship compared to most?” The measure showed both convergent and divergent validity in the moderate positive correlations with commitment and relationship investment, and a negative correlation with alternative partners.
Authenticity in Relationships Scale (Lopez, & Rice, 2006).
This is a 24 item self-report measure that measure how much the perceived benefits of genuine and honest presentation outweigh the costs in a relationship. The measure consists of a Likert scale of 1(not at all descriptive) to 9 (very descriptive) in which participants rate the perceptions of the benefits of authenticity presentation in a relationship. The measure includes two subscales, unacceptable deception and intimate risk taking. The unacceptable deception assess the individual’s motivation to self-disclose and honest relationship behaviors. This subscale shows good internal consistency with an alpha level of 0.88 and some example items include, “I would rather be the person my partner wants me to be than who I really am” and “ I’d rather think the best of my partner than to know the whole truth about him or her.” The measure as a whole has a good test-retest reliability with an r-value of 0.76. The intimate risk taking subscale assess the perceptions of safety and trust when disclosing about one’s self with a romantic partner. This subscale showed good internal consistency with an alpha level of 0.86 and items include, “I answer my partner’s questions about me honestly and fully” and “I share my deepest thoughts with my partner even if there’s a chance he/she won’t understand them.” In terms of validity, this measure shows both convergent and divergent validity. The measure was positively correlated with
self-esteem (0.25) and negatively correlated with dispositions toward self-concealment (r=-0.49 and -0.35) and self-disorganization or splitting (r=-0.35, r=-0.31). IRT scores were negatively correlated with attachment avoidance (r=-0.59) and attachment anxiety (r=-0.17). However, both subscales were positively correlated with relationship satisfaction (r=0.33 and r=0.56).