Intrapsychic and Attachment Influences on Adolescent Romantic Jealousy Erin M. Miga, Joseph P. Allen

1
Intrapsychic and Attachment Influences on
Adolescent Romantic JealousyErin M. Miga, Joseph
P. Allen, Amanda HareUniversity of VirginiaThis
study was made possible by funding from the
National Institute of Mental Health awarded to
Joseph P. Allen, Principal Investigator( Grant
R01-MH58066)
INTRODUCTION
METHOD

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• Participants Procedure
• Data were collected from a multi-method,
  multi-reporter, longitudinal study of adolescent
  development in the context of peer and family
  relationships.
• 93 target adolescents (42 male, 40 minority)
  and close peers were first interviewed at age
  14.3 (Time 1), teens interviewed at age 15(Time
  2), teens and romantic partners at age 18(Time 3)
  and teens interviewed at approximate age 20(Time
  4)
• Median family income 40, 000
• Close peers reported having known teens for 4.35
  years- Couples had been dating an average of 15
  months
• Measures
• Adolescent Problem Inventory (Freedman et al.,
  1978). Teens answered probes eliciting their
  expectations on efficacy in being able to respond
  in a competent fashion regarding hypothetical
  situations of peer interpersonal conflict.
• Chronic Jealousy Scale (White, 1984). Teens
  reported on their tendency to experience
  interpersonal jealousy, and primarily focuses on
  experience of jealousy in romantic relationships.
• Multi-Item Measure of Adult Romantic Attachment
  (Brennan, Clark, Shaver, 1998). Teens reported
  on their own degree of attachment anxiety that
  they generally experience in romantic
  relationships.
• Relationship Experiences Questionnaire
  (Levesque, 1990). Romantic partners reported on
  the degree of teens open communication,
  toleration and patience, and possessiveness in
  their current romantic relationship.

• Background
• Establishing an independent identity is crucial
  to forging new roles and developing mature
  romantic relationships (Erikson, 1968)
• Various facets of ones identity or
  self-concept
• Self efficacy vs. Self worth what is the
  difference?
• Self worth a feeling of self-regard,
  self-respect, and belief in ones worth
• implicated in internalizing disorders and
  insecure attachment (Sharpsteen, 1995) and mixed
  results regarding the relationship between
  self-worth and romantic relationship satisfaction
  (Cramer, 2003)
• Self efficacy belief in ones ability to
  accomplish a particular goal in a competent
  fashion
• implicated in deviant behavior, psychotherapy
  success, and social relations (Allen, Aber,
  Leadbeater, 1990).
• Little research conducted on how interpersonal
  self efficacy relates to romantic outcomes,
  particularly over time.

CONCLUSIONS

• Self worth an important intrapsychic construct
  that may heighten ones risk of being more
  possessive and jealous in romantic relationships
  across time.
• Self efficacy may serve as a protective factor
  for future romantic outcomes. A stronger belief
  in ones interpersonal efficacy appears to be
  actualized-in that these individuals are in fact
  engaging in healthier relationship patterns,
  characterized by adaptive communication and
  acceptance, four years later.
• Lastly, our mediating model suggests that
  threats to self worth may lead an individual to
  become increasingly reliant on his or her
  romantic relationship as a means of self
  validation, which may lead them to exhibit more
  jealousy and maladaptive behavior if they
  perceive their relationship is being threatened.

RESULTS
RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• The current study uses hierarchical regression
  analyses FIML to address the following
  questions
• 1. Does a higher general self worth predict more
  adaptive romantic outcomes 4-6 years later?
• 2. Does teen self efficacy similarly predict more
• adaptive romantic outcomes in early
  adulthood?
• Does attachment anxiety help to explain the
  possible relationship between self worth and
  future romantic outcomes?

REFERENCES
Allen, J. P., Leadbeater, B. J., Aber, J. L.
(1990). The relationship of adolescents'
expectations and values to delinquency, hard drug
use, and unprotected sexual intercourse.
Development and Psychopathology, 2, 85-98.
Brennan, Clark, Shaver (1998). Self-report
measurement of adult attachment. In J.A. Simpson
W.S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment Theory and Close
Relationships, (46-76). New York Guilford
Press. Cramer, D.(2003). Acceptance and need
for approval as moderators of self-esteem and
satisfaction with a romantic relationship or
closest friendship. Journal of Interdisciplinary
and Applied Psychology, 137(5), 495-505.
Erikson, E. (1968). Identity Youth and crisis.
New York Norton. Freedman, B. J., Rosenthal,
L., Donahoe, C.P., Schlundt, D. G., McFall, R.
M. (1978). A social-behavioral analysis of skill
deficits in delinquent and non-delinquent boys.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,
48, 1448-1462. Harter, S. (1988). Manual for the
self-perception profile for adults. Unpublished
manuscript. University of Denver, CO. Levesque,
R.J.R. (1993). The Romantic Experience of
Adolescents in Satisfying Love Relationships.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 22(3),
219-251. Sharpsteen, D. J. (1995). The effects of
relationship and self-esteem threats on the
likelihood of romantic jealousy. Journal of
Social and Personal Relationships, 12(1),
89. White, G. Mullen, P. (1989). Jealousy
Theory, Research, and Clinical Strategies. New
York The Guilford Press.
Note. p lt .05 p lt .01. N 93. Final Beta
weights are presented above for analyses
covarying gender and total income.