Relationship Type

Abstract: Although a key objective of relationship marketing is building strong bonds with customers, there is little empirical research into the antecedents and consequents of relational bonds. Women are increasingly assuming key boundary-spanning roles in organizations, and understanding the extent to which sex differences affect relationship processes and outcomes is an important management issue. This study develops hypotheses linking relationship quality, relational bonds, facets of relationship management, and biological sex, and tests them in the context of buyer-supplier relationships. Social bonds and the relationship-management facets of communication/cooperation and relationship investment were found to be key predictors of relationship quality. Communication/cooperation, relationship investment and relationalism were found to predict social bonds, while relationship investment and relationalism were found to predict functional and structural bonds. Relationship type (male-male, male-female, female-- male, and female-female) was found to have some effect on relationship quality and relational bonds. Post hoc analysis found significant interaction effects between the type of relationship and facets of relationship management. The management of buyer-seller relationships is recognized as being integral to business success (Wilson, 1995) and can provide a key source of competitive advantage (Day & Wensley, 1983). While there are several views about the nature and scope of relationship marketing (Nevin, 1995), one core objective is to build strong bonds with customers (Cravens, 1995). Interestingly, the antecedents and consequents of relational bonds remain relatively unexplored (cf. Han, 1992; Mummalaneni & Wilson, 1991). Recent work by Palmer and Bejou (1995) and Smith and Bejou (1995) suggests that biological sex and/or socialized gender role may have a bearing on working relationships, processes, and outcomes. Although equivocal, research on interpersonal and work relationships suggests that men and women differ, at least in degree, in their relationship management styles, approaches, and values (e.g., Keys, 1985; Riger & Gilligan, 1980; Statham, 1987). These are thought to place a strain on coworker interaction (Devine & Markiewicz, 1990). It is not clear, however, to what extent, if any, sex differences are manifest in the management of buyer-seller relationships. This issue is particularly important since women have increasingly been assuming key management and boundary-spanning roles in organizations over the past two decades (Foster & Orser, 1994), and men and women may have different training requirements to be effective relationship managers. This study investigates the role of relational bonds in the development of quality working relationships. The effects of biological sex on relationship management, relational bonds, and relationship quality are also explored. Background Relationship marketing has been such a dominant, yet undefined, paradigm over the past 10 years that it is difficult to distinguish from marketing, as classically defined (Iacobucci, 1994). This has led to the paradox where considerable research has been conducted on service, consumer, channel, partner, and business-to-business relationships (cf. the special issue of the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 1995), yet relationship marketing is considered to be in the very early stages of its development (Sheth & Parvatiyar, 1995). Reflective of its early development relationship marketing research has been plagued by a variety of conceptual and methodological issues. There is little agreement on the definition of concepts, how they should be operationalized, or what labels should be attached to them (Wilson, 1995). This has led to the situation where the meanings of many of the concepts deployed in the literature overlap. An unresolved methodological issue is who can or should inform the researcher on the nature, characteristics, and dynamics of the relationship, its parties, their interaction, and their environment. …

Abstract: The relationship between a victim and an offender is critical to understanding the context and dynamics of homicide. It is recognized that the causes and correlates of homicides within intimate relationships differ from the causes and correlates of homicides by strangers. Systematic research has seldom examined, however, differences in the nature of intimate violence, particularly lethal violence, among intimate relationships that vary in the degree of intimacy and level of commitment. Such an examination is important, not only for understanding the phenomenon of intimate femicide, but also for explaining variations in the reactions to such acts. Using relationship state and relationship status to differentiate among various degrees of intimacy and commitment, we show that the characteristics of the people involved in intimate femicides as well as the circumstances surrounding the killing do differ by relationship type.

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between relational quality and media use in relationships. In addition, the impacts of other potentially important variables such as the sex and relationship type of the participants and their partners are explored. College student participants focused on interaction experiences with an acquaintance, friend, romantic partner or family member. The results indicated that participant sex and partner sex did not affect reported media use, whereas relationship type had significant effects on the extent to which face-to-face and telephone communication were used. Relationships with acquaintances had the lowest relational quality and romantic relationships, while closer, were less satisfying than either family or friendship relationships. Same-sex relationships were perceived as more satisfying than cross-sex relationships. Finally, media use did not predict relational closeness or satisfaction.

Abstract: The present research examined how perceived marginalization of one's romantic relationship is associated with level of future commitment to and stability of that involvement. Results from a 7-month longitudinal study of romantically involved individuals (N = 215) revealed that perceived social network marginalization at Time 1 predicted breakup status at Time 2, with commitment level at Time 1 fully mediating this association. Among those individuals whose relationships remained intact, social network marginalization predicted Time 2 commitment above and beyond satisfaction, alternatives, and investments. Additional analyses revealed that perceived general societal marginalization was a less robust predictor of relationship commitment and stability compared to social network marginalization. These findings highlight the important consequences of perceived social disapproval on relationship outcomes. Key Words: commitment, dissolution, interdependence, satisfaction, social networks, stability. A variety of studies have provided evidence indicating important connections between the structure and the opinions of people's social networks and various indices of relationship quality and functioning (e.g., Agnew, Loving, & Drigotas, 2001; Etcheverry & Agnew, 2004; Milardo, 1982; Sprecher & Felmlee, 1992). One aspect of the relational social context that has received relatively little research attention concerns the effects of prejudice directed against people's romantic relationships. What are the effects of perceived relationship marginalization on individuals' romantic involvements? In a recent cross-sectional investigation of individuals involved in primarily nontraditional romantic partnerships (i.e., same gender, interracial, and age gap; Lehmiller & Agnew, 2006), we examined the association between relationship marginalization, defined as the extent to which individuals perceive their romantic relationship as the subject of disapproval by their social networks and by society at large, and relationship commitment. Perceived relationship marginalization was found to significantly and negatively predict commitment, above and beyond the well-established effects of other commitment predictors. Perceived marginalization thus appears to provide unique additional information for understanding commitment processes in romantic relationships. In the present research, we sought to further our knowledge of the effects of perceived marginalization on consequential relational phenomena. Our goals were to (a) examine the longitudinal associations between marginalization and future levels of relationship commitment and stability, (b) determine whether the effects of marginalization on future relationship stability are mediated by commitment, and (c) examine whether these effects are moderated by source of perceived marginalization (i.e., social network vs. general society). We tested tiiese ideas in a 7-month longitudinal study with a sample composed primarily of individuals involved in marginalized relationships, an approach not previously adopted in the social approval literature. Prejudice and Romantic Relationships A wealth of public opinion polls and psychological research indicates that certain romantic involvements do not receive widespread social acceptance. For instance, research suggests that the American public largely disapproves of interracial (e.g., Gallup & Newport, 1991), samegender (e.g., Newport, 2004), and age gap relationships (i.e., relationships in which one partner is significantly older than the other; e.g., Banks & Arnold, 2001). Of these relationship types, samegender partners perhaps encounter the most visible and vocal opposition, as legally sanctioned same-gender partnerships (particularly when they are referred to as "marriages"; see Schmitt, Lehmtiler, & Walsh, in press) are opposed by die general public throughout much of the United States. All these nontraditional partnerships, though, are subject to some level of social resistance, even if the amount of opposition and underlying reasons for it vary by relationship type. …