17th Annual Student Research Conference
Social Science
Young Adults’ Attitudes on Divorce and Romantic Relationships: A Study Looking at Family Background, Gender, and Current Relationships
Amanda L. Drescher
Dr. Karen Vittengl, Faculty Mentor
This study evaluated the relationships among family background, attitudes on divorce, and behavior in romantic relationships of young adults. Ninety-eight college students completed a survey regarding opinions on divorce, quality of the current parent-child relationship, romantic involvement, and demographic information including gender and parents’ marital status. Contrary to the hypothesis, participants with divorced parents did not report a greater frequency and shorter durations in romantic relationships than participants with married parents. Neither did participants with a positive current parent-child relationship report a lesser frequency and longer durations in romantic relationships than participants with a negative relationship. While there was no overall relationship between parents' marital status and opinions on divorce, participants with divorced parents were more positive toward divorce as a solution to financial problems than participants with married parents. Lastly, females favored divorce as a solution to verbal abuse more than males.
Keywords: young adults, family background, parents, divorce, relationships, gender, psychology
Topic(s):Psychology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 24-4
Location: OP 2210
Time: 10:45