Romantic Relationships Literature Review

Literature Review

Having set the theoretical context for the research, this chapter outlines and discusses research in romantic relationships leading to the more specific focus on security and the meaning attached to it, perceived gender differences and the influence of security to one’s sense of self. There is a scarce research done in this area in an Indian population with the changing context of romantic relationships. This research would also be an attempt to consolidate and discuss related literature with respect to security as perceived and felt by an individual in their relationship.

Emerging adulthood

A period characterized by a lot of uncertainty and instability, emerging or young adulthood according to Settersten et al(2005) comes

In a study conducted by Hefner (2011), 335 undergraduate students reported their beliefs about love and romance. Perilloux & Buss (2008) on the other hand, studied romantic relationship break-ups and collected data from 193 individuals. In these studies, women reported costs such as the loss of physical protection whereas fear of getting close to another in the future was also reported by both men and women indicating that past experiences to influence current relationships. Lewandowski and Ackerman’s (2006) in their study found that growing opportunities for intimacy with their current partner was more important that sense of safety and security. However, feelings of insecurity can lead to low relationship satisfaction and this in turn can influence an individual in the relationship to look or seek comfort with an alternate partner. A third party threat can interfere with an individual’s sense of security and this can come either from a same sex individual or of the opposite sex, either in a face to face situation or from networking sites

A study conducted by Subaiya(2009) among Indian men and women showed that heightened pre-marital activity usually took place in the transition to marriage thus warranting the above statement. Now it appears as if these young adults are caught between being loyal to their cultural values and the temptation from external factors that seems to propagate an unspoken acceptability of being physically intimate before betrothal. According Abdullahi & Umar(2013), when individuals are away from home, they are cut off from their family restrictions and sexual temptations take over Some of the reasons cited by the researcher following a survey among 318 college students were love, money and materialism, peer influence, pleasure and academic advantage. Among these love was cited as the strongest reason, as these adults felt that engaging in sex conveyed the trueness of their commitment. . Giving into the urge to explore, to blend with the peer group, to satisfy a curiosity or even to retain a partner, does an individual have sexual relations? Is readiness to engage in sex an indication of a more secure