Distance in relationships as a moderator of relationship characteristics on relationship outcomes.

Abstract

Distance in dating relationships has become more prevalent now than ever before as people begin relationships while geographically close, but at times are forced to move for myriad reasons (e.g., school, employment, personal reasons, etc.); (Jiang & Hancock, 2013). However, little research has been conducted to address how distance may be a unique stressor in relationships and could lead to certain relationship tactics being preferred regarding how people interact in these relationships. The goals of the current research were to investigate distance as a stressor in relationships and to determine whether distance in relationships impacts conflict resolution style preferences and with relationship maintenance strategy preferences. 69 participants involved in dating relationships answered questions regarding their attachment styles, conflict resolution preferences in hypothetical situations, relationship contingent self-esteem, and other relationship-focused questions. Of the 69 participants involved, 17 were in long-distance dating relationships. Distance was not found to have any significant effect on any of the measured relationship variables. However, both attachment style and relationship contingent self-esteem impacted conflict resolution style preference and relationship strategy maintenance style preference.