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AbstractA multivariate causal model was tested to determine the extent to which two central questions, "Will I be better off" and "Can I do it?", contribute to abused daters' stay/leave decision‐making processes. Participants completed questionnaires consisting of multiple measures of relationship satisfaction, alternatives, investments, subjective norm, personal resources and barriers, and structural resources and barriers. The first question and its indicators accounted for over 87% of the variance in participants'intention to stay in or leave their relationships. Results highlight three important avenues for future research: identifying both positive and negative aspects of abusive relationships, increased clarification of the commitment construct, and emphasis on further operationalizing the construct "Can 1 do it?"

AbstractControl theory was used to investigate identity microprocesses (i.e., self‐verification)within the context of serious dating relationships. Forty‐two college women importance for, and certainty about, their future career identities served as targets in the study. The targets and their dating partners participated in a procedure in which the targets received career information that was contrary to their beliefs about their future identities. Results revealed that women who were highly certain about their future career identity, regardless of its importance level, engaged in more self‐verification efforts than did women who were uncertain. A comparison of congruent (partner herself) and incongruent dating partners revealed that congruent partners were the most overt in their disagreement with the contrary information. Certainty and partner congruence predicted the target's self‐rating change following the identity disruption. Partner congruence accounted for a substantial amount of variance in self‐rating change, indicating that close relationships provide an influential context for identity development.

When selecting a marriage education curriculum, educators can turn to programs that have been evaluated for effectiveness; however, few curricula have undergone such study. An alternative approach, consistent with best practices, is to ensure a research base for program content. A translation process model is offered as an initial attempt to explicate the often advocated yet seldom described research–practice linkage. This process is used to examine recent research on marital quality and provide examples of research‐based content in existing marriage education programs.

AbstractThis study examines the similarities, differences, and potential linkages between perceptions of online infidelity and traditional infidelity using a sample of 123 individuals in committed relationships. Respondents nominated both sexually and emotionally based behaviors as unfaithful and expressed greater distress in response to hypothetical emotional, as compared to sexual, online infidelity. Unlike traditional infidelity, men generally were not more upset by sexual online infidelity than were women. Both men and women believed that emotional and sexual online infidelities were likely to co‐occur. A face‐to‐face meeting was perceived to be more likely following emotional, as compared to sexual, online infidelity and men were viewed as more likely than women to engage in sexual intercourse, given a face‐to‐face meeting with the online contact.