Investigation of the Initiation of Short-Term Relationships in a Vacation Setting
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University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 2005 Investigation of the initiation of short-term relationships in a vacation setting. Aneta Milojevic The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Milojevic, Aneta, "Investigation of the initiation of short-term relationships in a vacation setting." (2005). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 5437. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/5437 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Maureen and Mike MANSFIELD LIBRARY The University of Momttaim Permission is granted by the author to reproduce this material in its entirety, provided that this material is used for scholarly purposes and is properly cited in published works and reports. **Please check "Yes" or "No" and provide signature Yes, I grant permission V No, I do not grant permission ________ Author's Signature: flwh- Date: ^ uJU a \V >ipg> Any copying for commercial purposes or financial gain may be undertaken only with the author's explicit consent. 8/98 An Investigation of the Initiation of Short-Term Relationships in a Vacation Setting by Aneta Milojevic B.S., University of Idaho, 2003 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts The University of Montana July 2005 Approved by: Chairman Dean, Graduate School n -15-05 Date UMI Number: EP40901 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Di«®ftsta RaMshag UMI EP40901 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Milojevic, Aneta, M.A., July 2005 Communication Studies An Investigation of the Initiation of Short-Term Relationships in a Vacation Setting Chairman: Stephen Yoshimur ABSTRACT This study focused on the initiation process of short-term romantic relationships while on spring break vacation. Previous research has identified that the vacation setting lends itself to more lenient attitudes towards casual sex, thus making them a prime location for the initiation of short-term romantic relationships. Three research questions and two hypotheses served as the basis for this study. The first research question asked how many college students initiate short-term relationships on vacation. The second question raised was which motivating factors have a greater influence on the initiation of these relationships. The final question asked what types of self-presentation strategies are used in initiating a short-term relationship on vacation. The first prediction was that males would communicate more interest in initiating a short term relationship on vacation. Second, it was predicted that males would place a higher value on physical attractiveness for a short-term partner, while females would place a higher value on status-linked characteristics. The results revealed numerous gender differences, as well as some similarities. Men more than women reported initiating short-term relationships on vacation, as well as reporting being influenced by personal, sex partner, and physical environment factors. Women reported being more selective in preferred partner characteristics, and women also reported a higher frequency of enacted initiation strategies. The results of this study are consistent with an evolutionary perspective of human mating. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Although I would like to take full credit for this paper, I think it would be unfair. There have been far too many people in my life that deserve as much credit and thanks for this paper as I do. First and foremost, I would like to thank my friends and family, in Idaho and across the globe. In the past 24 years, I have received nothing but love, encouragement and happiness from you all. It makes me proud to know I have such a loving group of people surrounding me and I hope that I will continue to make you all proud. I love you all. This project could not have been completed without the support, encouragement, and direction of my advisor, Steve Yoshimura. Thank you so much for all of your help. Your reassuring comments helped me believe in myself and realize that my “silly” topic was one of value. It has been my pleasure taking your courses and being your advisee. Any student should be so lucky to have you as their instructor and /or advisor. I should also thank you for making me an APA master. My editorial skills have been called upon numerous times, and without my papers being marked up from beginning to end, I could never have learned the beauty of APA style. I also owe a big thanks to Christina Yoshimura. Thank you for being on my committee, as well as being a friend. All of your guidance and support in and out of school has been greatly appreciated. Your sparkling demeanor is a pleasure to be around and I consider myself lucky to have been able to work with you. To both Steve and Christina, I am very fortunate to have been able to work with such great people. Thank you for everything and I am sorry to have invaded your breakfast conversation with thesis talk. Finally, I would like to thank Annie Sondag for her time and input with this paper. Your perspective allowed me to write a more complete and well-rounded paper. Keep your eyes open and maybe one day I will be on 60 Minutes! The two years I spent in the graduate program at the University of Montana have been two of the most exciting years of my life. The friends I have made in my time in Montana have definitely made the roller coaster ride of school worthwhile. I would like to thank my Idaho girls, Shelby Long and Nichole Woods for everything. From our countless nights going out to just doing nothing, every time spent with the both of you was memorable. You are some of my best friends and I am forever grateful for your friendship. Matt Isbell and Kelly Rossetto, from my first year to my second year you both were there for me. Thanks for all of the great life conversations, as well as the conversations that who knows where they came from. Good luck in Texas and who knows maybe one day I’ll be a longhorn too! Andrea Richards, you are brilliant and beautiful. Thanks for being such a good friend and going out buddy. I know one day your life will come out of complete shambles! Clair Canfield, you are an amazing man. Thanks for the perfect timing of everything. To the rest of the commies, thanks for helping me become the person I am today. In and out of school I have learned so much about life and am grateful to every one of you. Lastly, I must thank my roommates from my first year in Missoula. Scott Grasky, Matt Peak, Paul Boyd, and last but definitely not least Keri Geopfert, I don’t know what to say. Thanks for being so radically different and wonderful. You opened my eyes to Missoula and so much more. I’ve had such a great time with all of you and couldn’t imagine not knowing any of you. Oh, and I should give you guys some credit with inspiring me to write this paper on this particular topic. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Rationale and Literature Review 1 Rationale 1 Literature Review 3 Evolutionary theory 4 Short-term relationships 10 Evolutionary theory and initiation of short-term 15 relationships Initiation of short-term relationships 19 Chapter 2: Methods 23 Participants 23 Instruments 23 Procedure 26 Chapter 3: Results 28 How many people participate in short-term relationships 28 on vacation? Who communicates more interest in initiating short-term 28 relationships on vacation? Which factors have a greater influence on short-term 28 relationships on vacation? Which characteristics are preferred in potential partners? 30 What strategies are used in initiating short-term relationships? 34 Chapter 4: Discussion 36 Short-term romantic relationships and their occurrence 36 on vacation Pursuing short-term romantic relationships 37 iv Motivating factors and short-term romantic relationships 38 Preferred characteristics of short-term relationship partners 43 Initiation strategies used in short-term romantic relationships 46 Limitations & Future considerations 48 Conclusion 50 References 52 Appendix A: Short-Term Relationships Instrument 58 Appendix B: University of Montana Consent Form 64 Appendix C: University of Texas at Austin Consent Form 66 Appendix D: University of Idaho Consent Form 68 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Means and Standard Deviations for Factors Influencing Short-Term Relationship Initiation (Overall Population) Table 2: Means and Standard Deviations for Factors Influencing Short-Term Relationship Initiation (Short-Term Relationship Population) Table 3: Means and Standard Deviations for Characteristics Reported for Potential Short-Term Relationship Partners Table 4: Means and Standard Deviations of Initiation Strategies Used in Short-Term Relationships on Vacation CHAPTER 1: RATIONALE AND LITERATURE REVIEW Rationale Researchers have long been interested in studying romantic relationships and the many facets surrounding these relationships.