Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Lyrasis IVIembers and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/effectsofpositivOOclar Effects ofPositiveIllusions, Interdependent, and Attention toAlternativesin ClosenessofRomantic Relationships A SeniorHonorsThesis intheDepartmentofPsychology, SweetBriarCollege by AllisonClark DefendedandApproved 19April 2001 C y^^ljC^c:^^^^ <^/'/s/ol Dr. SusanE. Beers date dm^ Dr. RobertaSadler date ^/<?/Q date f//^/c:>r Dr. RichardBarnes date RomanticRelationships Runninghead: CLOSENESS OFROMANTICRELATIONSHIPS TheEffectsofPositiveIllusions, Interdependence, andAttentionto Alternatives inClosenessofRomanticRelationships AllisonClark SweetBriarCollege RomanticRelationships 2 Abstract Thisstudyexploredtheeffectsofillusions, interdependence, andattentionto alternativeson closenessinromantic relationships. Specifically,thepurposewastocompareshortterm and long termrelationships, giventhatthelatterhavebeenneglectedinpreviousresearch. Twenty-five shorttermdatingandengagedrelationshipsand31 longterm married andcohabiting relationshipswerecomparedonquestionnairesmeasuringeachoftheabovevariables. Contrary tothemainhypothesis,individualsinlongtermrelationshipsdidnotevidencegreatercloseness, althoughtheydidevidencegreaterstrengthofcloseness. Otherdifferences includedmoretime togetherandgreaterillusionsamongdatingcouples, and lessattentiontoalternativesamong marriedcouples.