This study introduces and reports an initial test of a theoretical model of play in romantic relationships. It was hypothesized that self-esteem and humor orientation would be positively associated with playfulness in romantic relationships. Playfulness in romantic relationships was predicted to be positively associated with the experience of positive emotion. Positive emotion, in turn, was predicted to be associated with relationship satisfaction. A self-report instrument was administered to students and community members via snowball sampling. Path analysis revealed that the data were consistent with the proposed model.

Cyberstalking research has revealed information about who is perpetrating what offense to whom. This study adds to research on cyberstalking by exploring how victims respond to the unwanted pursuit. The reflections of cyberstalking victims were content analyzed to answer research questions about different risk management behaviors, their effectiveness, and their relationship with specific cyberstalking behaviors. Findings indicated that victims used seven general management tactics of which ignore/avoidance, active technological disassociation, and help seeking were the most common. Using technology to move away from pursuers was reported as the most effective tactic for managing the unwanted relational pursuit. The results also suggested that victims' management responses were associated with the type of behaviors experienced.

The effect of relationship length on the perceived appropriateness and intensity of the experience and expression of romantic jealousy among American students was explored. Linear increases in perceived appropriateness and intensity of jealousy were predicted. The results largely supported the hypotheses, with jealousy experience, expression, and perceived appropriateness of jealousy expression increasing over time. However, the perceived appropriateness of jealousy experience did not vary significantly across relationship lengths. Ethnic differences in perceptions of appropriateness of jealousy experience and expression were also found.

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This study investigated cultural differences in emotion experience and expression in romantic relationships. It was hypothesized that Japanese Americans would report experiencing and expressing emotion to a lesser degree than Filipino Americans, and Filipino Americans would report experiencing and expressing emotion less intensely than Euro Americans. It was also hypothesized that the perceived appropriateness of the expression of emotion would be lowest for Japanese Americans, followed by Filipino Americans, and Filipino Americans would perceive lower appropriateness of emotion expression than Euro Americans. A total of 134 respondents completed a self-report instrument, which assessed a positive and negative emotion instance experienced in their romantic relationship. Negative and positive emotion instances were analyzed separately and only positive emotions were found to vary as a set across culture. Results showed that Filipino Americans rated emotion experience intensity, expression intensity, and appropriateness higher than Japanese Americans; however, contrary to expectations, Euro Americans' means were as low as, or lower, than those of the Japanese Americans respondents on all three dependent measures.