Romantic Relationship Satisfaction, Commitment to Career Choices ...

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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 46 (2012) 2542 – 2549

WCES 2012

Romantic relationship satisfaction, commitment to career choices and subjective well-being Selda Celen Demirtas a *, Esin Tezer b a b

Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Education, Ankara, Turkey Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Education, Ankara, Turkey

Abstract This study explored the role of romantic relationship satisfaction and two dimensions of career commitment (vocational exploration and commitment and tendency to foreclose) in subjective well-being among 391 (169 females, 222 males) senior university students. The results of two separate multiple regression analyses yielded that life satisfaction was significantl y predicted by relationship satisfaction and vocational exploration and commitment whereas positive and negative emotions were significantly predicted by relationship satisfaction, tendency to foreclose and vocational exploration and commitment. The implications, limitations and future directions for research were discussed. © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Uzunboylu Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. Keywords: Relationship satisfaction, career commitment, subjective well-being, university students

1. Introduction Marriage and work have been considered two significant life domains that predict overall satisfaction and regulate emotions of individuals. Starting from late adolescence, these two domains become more crucial because people experience commitment in both of these domains in their future lives. Although several studies supported the relationships of satisfaction experienced in romantic relationships, career commitment, and subjective well-being (for a review, see Diener & Eunkook, 2000), little is known about the relative contributions of said significant life domains in subjective well-being of university students who are about to enter into the world of marriage and work. Subjective well-being has been operationally conceptualized as a multidimensional construct consisting of two positive emotions, and the absence of negative emotions). Based on these two components, it was assumed that high frequency of positive affect, infrequency of negative affect, and a higher global sense of life satisfaction lead to high level of subjective well-being of individuals (Diener, 1984; Myers & Diener, 1995). In literature, there is a bulk of research investigating the role of various factors in subjective well-being with different age groups such as demographic variables (e.g. gender, marital status, income, education, social class, religion etc.), external factors (e.g. life events, work, leisure time activities etc.) (for a review, see Argyle, 2003) and several psychosocial factors (e.g. social relationships, attachment styles, self-concept etc.) (for a review, see Myers,

* Selda Celen Demirtas. Tel.: +1-857-998-7188 E-mail address: [email protected]

1877-0428 © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Uzunboylu Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.05.519

Selda Celen Demirtas and Esin Tezer / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 46 (2012) 2542 – 2549

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2003). Although studies yielded a great deal of evidence about the correlates of subjective well-being; we believe the relative effects of two major life domains, i.e., romantic relationships and career commitment, in each of the two components of subjective well-being would be the most appealing issues for senior university students as they are starting to assume the adult roles of partners and professionals. 1.1. Romantic relationship satisfaction and subjective well-being Relationship satisfaction, in general, refers to feelings, thoughts, or behaviors within a relationship associated with sexual attitudes, professed feelings of love, commitment, self-disclosure, and relationship investment (Hendrick, 1988). Several studies have shown that quality of romantic relationships is a significant source of happiness (Argyle, 2001; Diener, Gohm, Suh, & Oishi, 2000; Khaleque & Rohner, 2004). More specifically, studies suggested that satisfaction with romantic relationships is associated with subjective well-being (Myers, 2003) and that quality of a relationship and satisfaction with that relationship are related to happiness across the life span (Dush & Amato, 2005; Myers, 2003; Reis, Collins, & Berscheid, 2000). Literature has also suggested that along with the quality and satisfaction in romantic relationships involvement in relationships and presence or absence of romantic relationships was found to be related with subjective well-being (Dush & Amato, 2005; La Greca & Harrison, 2005; Paul, Poole, & Jakubowyc, 1998). Considering these theoretical suggestions and research results in the present study, besides the satisfaction experienced in romantic relationship the effect of presence and absence of romantic relationships on subjective well-being of senior university students was also examined. 1.2. Commitment to career choices and subjective well-being development (e.g. Super, 1957). However, Blustein, Ellis and Devenis (1989) introduced the concept of experiencing positive feelings regarding vocational future as well as being aware of potential obstacles the individual may face. Researchers also developed an instrument to measure the construct identified with two dimensions; vocational exploration and commitment and tendency to foreclose. Vocational exploration and commitment refers to openness to explore different career options before committing to a choice. On the other hand, tendency to foreclose refers to prematurely committing to a choice without true exploration of potential career options (Blustein et al., 1989). In the commitment to their career choices and subjective well-being. However, the results of several studies might be considered indirect evidence of such relationships by showing that career commitment predicts learning motivation and learning transfer (Cheng & Ho, 2001) and that people who committed to their career set higher goals for themselves and expended more effort to reach these goals even when they faced obstacles (Colarelli & Bishop, 1990). These studies suggested that commitment to their career choices would make students more motivated to learn about their major and be more persuasive for reaching their goals in their major. Considering the theoretical argument that having valued goals and committing to those goals are all related to well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2001), it might be expected that career commitment is correlated with subjective well-being in senior university students. 1.3. The present study University students face two important life challenges: developing intimate relationships and committing to a isolation stage -a true intimacy that makes possible a good marriage or genuine and enduring friendship and in -stage of exploration stage -progressively making a commitment to and getting

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training for a specific area of work. In both of these theories, it was proposed that any failure in overcoming these tasks leads to isolation, depression, and most importantly overall dissatisfaction in life. University students have to consider their career choices, interests, skills, and life choices as important impacts on the rest of their lives (Zarrett & Eccles, 2006). They have to look for occupations while they are expected to form lasting relationships for their adult lives. Any failure in these choices may cause psychological stress for individuals (Friedlander, Reid, Shupak, & Cribbie, 2007). Thus the role of these two aspects of life, experience (presence or absence of romantic relationships) and satisfaction in romantic relationships and commitment to career choices, in different components of subjective well-being needs to be examined to increase our understanding of what prepares students for a better, happier future. Based on these arguments, the present study aimed to examine the relationships between relationship status, romantic relationship satisfaction and career commitment, and subjective well-being of senior university students. More specifically, the present study aimed to examine the role of relationship status (presence and absence of romantic relationships), romantic relationship satisfaction, and the two dimensions (vocational exploration and commitment, and tendency to foreclose) of career commitment in life satisfaction and the positive and negative affects each has on senior university students. 2. Method 2.1. Participants and procedure Convenient sampling procedure was used in this study. The participants were 391 (169 females, 222 males) fourth-year undergraduate students of the five faculties of Middle East Technical University, which is one of the leading campus universities located in Ankara, Turkey. The fourth-year students were selected because they were thought to be at the appropriate age and grade level in terms of relationship satisfaction and commitment to career choices. After obtaining the necessary permission from the Ethics Committee of the university, the researcher made personal visits to the departments of faculties and arranged appointments with the instructors. Before administration, the purpose of the study was explained to the participants, their informed consents were received, and anonymity was guaranteed. The instruments were then administered to the volunteer students in classrooms settings. Age of the students ranged from 19 to 28 with the mean age of 22.5 (SD = 1.39). 2.2. Measures 2.2.1. Relationship assessment scale (RAS) RAS (Hendrick, 1988) is a 7-item measure of romantic relationship satisfaction. The RAS measures general about the relationship. Participants answered the questions about relationships on a 7-point scale where high scores refer to being more satisfied. RAS was chosen because it is brief in comparison with other relational satisfaction scales and measures general relationship satisfaction rather than satisfaction in marriage. The internal consistency coefficient of RAS was reported as .86 (Hendrick, 1988). The Turkish adaptation of the RAS was carried out by Curun (2001). The Cronbach alpha coefficient was .86. In the present study, the Cronbach alpha coefficient was found as .90. 2.2.2. Commitment to career choices scale (CCCS) CCCS (Blustein et al., 1989) is a 28-item measure with a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (never true about me) to 7 (always true about me). CCCS consists of two subscales: Vocational Exploration and Commitment (VEC) and Tendency to Foreclose (TTF). VEC consists of 19 items (e.g., I feel uneasy about committing myself to a


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progress from an uncommitted phase to a highly committed phase. TTF consists of 9 items (e.g., I believe that only one single occupation is right for me) and measures the extent to which individuals limit their career options. Low scores on VEC mean greater certainty and commitment to career choice while high scores show an uncommitted attitude. High scores on TTF refer to stronger predisposition to foreclose on career choices and low scores refer to weak predisposition to foreclose and suggest comfort with v openness to both the commitment process and exploration. The Turkish adaptation of the scale was conducted by Balin (2008). The internal consistency of the scale was found as .77 for TTF and .89 for VEC subscales. 2.2.3. Subjective well-being (SWB) SWB was measured by the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). SWLS was used to measure the par participants to rate each statement on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). The Cronbach alpha for the scale was .87 and the testretest correlation coefficient was .86. The Turkish adaptation of the SWLS was conducted by Koker (1991). The Cronbach alpha coefficient of the scale was .89 and the test-retest correlation coefficient was .85. In the present study, the Cronbach alpha coefficient was found as .86. The Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) consists of ten positive emotions (active, alert, attentive, determined, enthusiastic, excited, inspired, interested, proud, and strong) and ten negative emotions (afraid, ashamed, distressed, guilty, hostile, irritable, jittery, nervous, scared, and upset). Participants were asked to indicate how frequently they experience said emotions on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (Never) to 5 (Always). Internal consistency reliabilities were reported to be .88 and .87 for PA and NA, respectively (Watson et al., 1988). Both were translated into Turkish by Gencoz (2000). Internal consistencies for PA and NA were .83 and .86, respectively. In the present study, we followed the scoring procedure proposed by Kim and Hatfield (2004) and calculated one single PANAS score for each participant. In scoring, we reversed the scores on negative affect and added to the scores of positive affect. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient was found to be .80. 2.2.4. Relationship status Relationship status was coded as 0 = have a romantic relationship (n = 201; 100 females, 101 males) and 1 = have no romantic relationship (n = 190; 69 females, 121 males) were used as control measures. 3. Results 3.1. Descriptive statistics Table 1 presents the means and standard deviations, and the intercorrelations of the variables used in the present study. Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlation Matrices of the Study Variables Variables

M

SD

1.Relationship Status

0.49

0.50

-

1

2

3

4

5

6

2. RS

35.87

8.86

-.52**

-

3. TTF

30.98

7.78

.05

-.00

4. VEC

68.35

16.02

.07

-.17**

5. SWLS

14.75

4.37

-.19**

.32**

.12*

-.41**

-

6. PANAS

97.74

12.30

-.14**

.21**

-.04

-.38**

.45**

-.26**

-

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Selda Celen Demirtas and Esin Tezer / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 46 (2012) 2542 – 2549 Note. RS: Relationship Satisfaction; TTF: Tendency to Foreclose; VEC: Vocational Exploration and Commitment; SWLS: Satisfaction with Life Scale; PANAS: Positive and Negative Affect (scores on negative affect were reversed and added to the scores of positive affect)

As seen in Table 1, life satisfaction score was significantly and negatively correlated with relationship status (r = -.19, p < .01), and VEC (r = -.41, p < .01) whereas positively correlated with the romantic relationship satisfaction score (r = .32, p < .01) and TTF (r = .12, p < .05). The positive and negative affect score was significantly and negatively correlated with relationship status (r = -.14, p < .01), and VEC (r = -.38, p < .01) score. However, it was positively correlated with the romantic relationship satisfaction score (r = .21, p < .01). 3.2. Multiple regression analyses In the present study, two separate standard multiple regression analyses were run: one with SWL as the dependent variable and the other with PANAS as the dependent variable while relationship status (coded as presence or absence of romantic relationship) was controlled. The results are presented in Table 2. Table 2. Summary of Regression Analyses for Predicting the Satisfaction with Life and Positive and Negative Affects (N =391)

SWLS t

Variables

PANAS t

Relationship Status

.04

-0.80

-.04

Relationship Satisfaction (RS)

.24

4.54***

.12

2.20*

Tendency to Foreclose (TTF)

.03

0.65

.14

-2.99**

Vocational Exploration and Commitment (VEC)

-.36

-7.63***

.40

-8.20***

2

-0.75

2

Note: 1. For SWLS: Satisfaction with Life Scale, Multiple R = .48, R = .23, Adjusted R = .23; for PANAS: Positive and Negative Affect Scale, Multiple R = .43, R2= .19, Adjusted R2 = .18. 2, *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

In the first analysis, SWLS was the dependent variable and after all variables were entered into the equation Multiple R = .48, F (4,388) = 29.68, p < .001. In the overall model, relationship satisfaction (RS) significantly and positively predicted SWLS with Beta values of = .24, t = .4.54, p < .001. Vocational Exploration and Commitment (VEC) significantly and negatively predicted SWLS, = -.36, t = -7.63, p < .001. In the second regression analysis, PANAS was the dependent variable. After all variables were entered into the equation Multiple R = .43, F (4, 388) = 22.35, p < .001. In the overall model Relationship Satisfaction (RS) t = 2.20, p < .01 whereas Vocational Exploration and Commitment (VEC) and Tendency to Foreclose (TTF) negatively predicted PANAS, = -.40, t = -8.20, p < .001; = -.14, t = -2.99, p < .01, respectively.

4. Discussion The results of the first regression analysis revealed that romantic relationship satisfaction and vocational exploration and commitment predicted the life satisfaction of the participants. The results of the second regression analysis indicated that romantic relationship satisfaction, vocational exploration and commitment, and tendency to foreclose predicted the emotions of the participants. In general, the results of the two separate regression analyses suggested that Vocational Exploration and Commitment (VEC) scores made the strongest contributions to the equations of both Satisfaction with Life (SWLS) and Positive and Negative Affect (PANAS) scores of the participants. As it was previously mentioned, the lower scores on the VEC subscale refer to certainty and commitment to career choices (Blustein et al., 1989). Thus, the


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results suggest that participants who showed greater certainty and commitment to their career choices experience higher levels of life satisfaction and more positive emotions. In the literature, the research regarding the association between subjective well-being and career commitment as measured in the present study is rather scarce. However, based on the previous research and theory that enhanced our knowledge regarding the role of career choices in the life of university students (e.g., Blustein et al., 1989; Erikson, 1968; Super, 1957), it can be argued that this finding provided an additional support for the proposition that committing to a career choice may be the most significant factor for the overall subjective well-being for those who are about to graduate and settle down in an occupation. Present findings showed that romantic relationship satisfaction, although accounted for less than VEC scores, was the predictor of both the SWLS and Positive and PANAS scores of the participants. In the literature, the positive association between romantic relationship satisfaction and life satisfaction has been one of the most consistent findings in several studies (e.g., Collins, 2003; Dush & Amato, 2005; Furman & Shaffer, 2003; Hand & Furman, 2006; Zarrett & Eccles, 2006). Studies also yielded that quality of the romantic relationships was found to be a predictor of depressive symptoms (e.g., La Greca & Harrison, 2005; Davila, Steinberg, Kachadourian, Cobb, & Fincham, 2004). Thus, the results of these studies provide strong support for the results of the present study indicating that an increase in romantic relationship satisfaction leads to an increase in both life satisfaction as well as positive emotions. In the present study, Tendency to Foreclose (TTF) was found as the predictor of PANAS. Results regarding the TTF scores as being the negative predictor of PANAS indicated that participants who are not flexible in considering their career choices experience more negative emotions. Higher scores on the TTF subscale mean stronger predisposition to foreclose on career choices without true exploration of potential career options. According to Blustein and colleagues (1989) individuals who show strong levels of the TTF in the early phase of the commitment process are the individuals who may not be comfortable in openly considering all of the occupational choices that are appropriate for their individual characteristics. They are not able to develop alternative options and therefore limit their flexibility in the selected major they have chosen. The students in the sample of the present study are about to graduate and have to make career choices. During this period, the re-consideration of their career choices may result in negative feelings for the students who are not comfortable with career choices they made. In other words, the results of the present study emphasized the fact that career choices and tasks required for career development may cause confusion, anxiety, and stress (Bluestein et al., 1989). This might be a natural process since subjective well-being is not defined as just the lack of negative feelings (Diener, 1984). The emphasis is not only on the aversive moods and the causes of these moods, but also on the factors that differentiate slightly happy people from moderately and extremely happy people. It was also emphasized that the study of subjective well being focuses on longer-term states rather than focusing on momentary moods (Diener, Suh, & Oishi, 1997). Thus, this result of the study seemed to support that students are experiencing certainty/commitment while still exploring career alternatives, which makes them experience both satisfaction and negative emotions. Finally, relationship status was not found as the significant predictor of subjective well-being of the participants. Although some studies indicated that engaging in romantic relationships was found to be related to the well-being of individuals (for a review, see Keyes & Waterman, 2003), as suggested by Perlman (2007), the importance of having relationships versus the importance of the quality of those relationships is an issue that should be discussed. When the characteristics of the sample are considered; they are about to enter the adult world and they may tend to give importance to the quality of the relationship and the satisfaction derived from that relationship since they try to find a relationship that will last life-long. However, this may not eliminate the joy of the presence of and engaging in romantic relationship among university students. 4. Limitations and implications The present study had some limitations. It was restricted to the students of one university, which limits the generalizability of the findings. All measurements used in the present study were self-report measures. Other types

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of data collection and analyses, such as qualitative research, may provide clearer and more detailed information about the relationships investigated in the present study. This study may have several implications for counseling practice. The knowledge regarding the role of both romantic relationships and commitment to career choices in subjective well-being could help counselors to develop more comprehensive counseling strategies for University students. In developing counseling programs, the role of these two domains should also be considered. For example, various counseling programs and workshops can be organized to help students to enhance their skills in forming and maintaining satisfactory romantic relationships. Developmental career counseling practices could be provided for the university students to help them to move further in their career development path. 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