Humiliation and Power in the Dissolution of Close Relationships: Narratives of Poor Treatment in Romantic Relationships and Friendships

Document
Document

The dissolution of close, interpersonal relationships is an unexplored social context in the current body of humiliation literature. Antecedents of ending a romantic relationship or a friendship may include poor treatment by a close relationship partner. In the present study, we collected narratives of poor treatment by former close relationship partners from 18 participants that ended a romantic relationship and 23 participants that ended a friendship within the last year from the Wesleyan University undergraduate population. In addition, we measured participants? self-rated appraisals (cognitive evaluations), emotional experience, perceptions of power and sociability, as well as their perceived power and sociability in their former close partner. Results indicated that poor treatment by a significant other led to appraisals and feelings of humiliation and negative effects on self-esteem when participants perceived themselves as more powerful (i.e. more dominant in the relationship).

    Item Description
    Name(s)
    Date
    April 15, 2014
    Extent
    63 pages
    Language
    eng
    Genre
    Physical Form
    electronic
    Discipline
    Rights and Use
    In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted
    Digital Collection
    PID
    ir:1568