Date of Award

Spring 5-2017

Degree Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Eric Dahlen

Advisor Department

Psychology

Abstract

Most of the research on relational aggression has been conducted with samples of older children and early adolescents and has focused primarily on same-sex peer relationships (Goldstein & Tisak, 2004). The aim of this study was to contribute to the relatively meager research on relational aggression in the context of college students’ romantic relationships by exploring the role of interpersonal jealousy. Participants included 377 undergraduate student volunteers (64 men and 313 women) ranging in age from 18 to 58 who were recruited through the Department of Psychology’s subject pool (i.e., Sona). The data were collected in the form of an online survey hosted through the online research system used by the Department of Psychology (i.e., Qualtrics). Measures of key variables included the Multidimensional Jealousy Scale (MJS) and the Romantic Relational Aggression subscale from the Self-Report of Aggression and Social Behavior Measure (SRASBM). The scores on all three subscales of the MJS (i.e., cognitive, emotional, and behavioral) were positively related to scores on the Romantic Relational Aggression subscale of the SRASBM. Although all three subscales of the MJS predicted romantic relational aggression, the Cognitive and Behavioral subscales explained the most unique variance. The implications of these findings and the study’s limitations are discussed.

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