Although individuals who reside permanently in one location and work temporarily in another (i.e., rotational workers) represent a sizeable segment of the population, they are understudied in the ...empirical literature. Because rotational workers and their at‐home partners have unique long‐distance relationships due to frequent separations and reunions, they and their relationships should be examined. The primary aim of this study was to identify key factors associated with maintenance of romantic relationships between rotational workers and their at‐home partners. Participants (N = 289) were rotational workers (n = 129) and at‐home partners of workers (n = 160) who completed online surveys on individual, dyadic, and extra‐dyadic relationship maintenance behaviors and relationship characteristics over the course of two working‐reunion (roster) phases. Results indicated individual, dyadic, and extra‐dyadic behaviors positively predicted perceived relationship quality among partners and workers. Among partners, generosity positively predicted relationship quality at the first reunion and second departure phases. All other individual, dyadic, and extra‐dyadic relationship maintenance behaviors predicted relationship quality, regardless of the roster phase. Overall, results suggest the importance of relationship maintenance education for individuals in rotational romantic relationships.
Previous research indicates that relationship maintenance behaviours are linked to relationship satisfaction. This study investigated the extent to which six relationship maintenance behaviours and ...nine sexual maintenance behaviours contribute to relationship and sexual satisfaction in long-distance relationships (LDRs) and geographically close relationships (GCRs). Based on online survey data, all of the relationship maintenance behaviours and sexual maintenance behaviours were positively correlated with satisfaction. Four of the relationship maintenance behaviours were uniquely associated with relationship satisfaction. Two of the sexual maintenance behaviours were uniquely associated with satisfaction outcomes. Neither gender nor relationship type moderated any associations. These results suggest the relationship maintenance framework should be expanded to include sexual behaviours and that relationship maintenance behaviours can also be considered as sexual maintenance behaviours.
What can we learn from looking at married partners who live apart?In Commuter Spouses: New Families in a Changing World, Danielle Lindemann explores how couples cope when they live apart to meet the ...demands of their dual professional careers. Based on the personal stories of almost one-hundred commuter spouses, Lindemann shows how these atypical relationships embody (and sometimes disrupt!) gendered constructions of marriage in the United States. These narratives of couples who physically separate to maintain their professional lives reveal the ways in which traditional dynamics within a marriage are highlighted even as they are turned on their heads.Commuter Spousesfollows the journeys of these couples as they adapt to change and shed light on the durability of some cultural ideals, all while working to maintain intimacy in a non-normative relationship.
Lindemann suggests that everything we know about marriage, and relationships in general, promotes the idea that couples are focusing more and more on their individual and personal betterment and less on their marriage. Commuter spouses, she argues, might be expected to exemplify in an extreme manner that kind of self-prioritization. Yet, as this book details, commuter spouses actually maintain a strong commitment to their marriage. These partners illustrate the stickiness of traditional marriage ideals while simultaneously subverting expectations.
Music is the best medium for expressing emotions and arousal nonverbally. PLAY ME is a gender-neutral Arduino-based system that allows partners in a long-distance relationship to perceive each ...other’s sexual arousal and to provide stimulation of erogenous zones using music. PLAY ME’s main parts are a tiny pneumatic anal probe connected to a pressure sensor and a bodysuit with integrated vibrators. Whenever both partners wear these devices, a real-time exchange of emotions and corporeal feelings can be enabled. Three sensors capture genital sexual arousal and transform it into music: a pulse sensor, a sensor for galvanic skin response and a pneumatic anal pressure probe. The anal probe measures pelvic tensions and contractions. Its signal controls the main voice. Higher arousal leads to stronger pelvic muscle tensions. Measured data are mapped to pitch, so the level of sexual arousal is audible in a comprehensive way, and orgasms can be clearly identified by regular pulsating sounds. The pulse sensor and the skin response sensor are the driving rhythm and drone frequency. The vibrators in the bodysuit are controlled by sound that is generated by the partner using any audio source. Mixing the sounds generated by the sensors and the instrument leads to interactive music that can enhance erotic feelings and sexual arousal in the way of biofeedback. This article describes the background and construction of the PLAY ME system and shows diagrams of sensor values recorded during sexual stimulation. After a discussion of the results, there is an outlook toward further development.
This study tested an actor-partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) in which dyadic relational maintenance behaviors (RMBs) mediate the relationship between romantic attachment (i.e., anxious ...and avoidant) and multiple indicators of relationship quality among couples in long-distance relationships (LDRs). Data were collected from 137 couples (women’s mean age = 20.37 years; men’s mean age = 21.93) who were in a serious romantic LDR and who completed an attachment measure, a measure of dyadic RMBs, and four measures of relationship quality (i.e., relationship satisfaction, relational commitment, closeness with the partner, and connection with others). Path analyses revealed significant actor and partner effects. Moreover, a total mediation between women’s anxious attachment and both partners’ relationship quality, and a partial mediation between men’s and women’s avoidant attachment and their own relationship quality were uncovered. Overall, the results suggest that, for couples in LDRs, one partner’s behaviors, cognitions, or emotions influence each member of the dyad as well as the quality of the relationship.
Military deployments are stressful for service members and partners. Communication is an important factor in trying to maintain a relationship during these separations. This article presents a brief ...overview of communication in long-distance relationships for context, then reviews articles on communication during military deployments. This review reveals that emerging technology has resulted in an increase in the ability to communicate during deployment, although some studies suggest that access to such technology may vary. The few empirical studies that examine new communication technologies have found that different media (e.g., video calling vs. letters) may serve different functions in communication during deployment (e.g., facilitating problem discussion vs. providing tangible reminders of the partner). Military specific concerns, such as restrictions on communication and the potential for communication to distract service members from their mission, also appear to be important factors. The article concludes with clinical and research recommendations.
Argues for legal reforms to protect couples who live
apart but perform many of the functions of a family
Living Apart Together is an in-depth look at a new way of
being a couple and "doing ...family"-living apart together (LAT)-in
which committed couples maintain separate residences and finances.
In Bowman's own 2016 national survey, 9% of respondents reported
maintaining committed relationships while living apart, typically
spending the weekend together, socializing together, taking
vacations together, and looking after one another in illness, but
maintaining financial independence. The term LAT stems from Europe,
where this manner of coupledom has been extensively studied;
however, it has gone virtually unnoticed in the United
States.
Living Apart Together aims to remedy this oversight by
presenting original research derived from both randomized surveys
and qualitative interviews. Beginning with the large body of social
science literature from outside the US, Cynthia Bowman examines the
prevalence of this lifestyle, the demographics of people who live
apart, their reasons for doing so, and how these individuals manage
finances, care during illness, and many other aspects of family
life. She focuses in particular detail on three key
demographics-women, gay men, and the elderly-and how individuals
from these groups engage in LAT behavior. She finds that while
these living arrangements are more common than previously believed,
there are virtually no legal protections for the people involved.
Bowman concludes by proposing a number of legal reforms to support
the caregiving functions LAT partners perform for each other.
Living Apart Together makes an important case for formal
recognition of this growing but largely overlooked family
structure.
Humans form and maintain friendships across long distances, which can provide access to non-local resources and support against large shocks that affect the entire local community. However, there may ...be a greater risk of defection in long-distance friendships, as monitoring for defection is more difficult at greater distances; accordingly, help between long-distance friends may be more explicitly contingent than between close-distance friends. We interviewed 918 participants from 21 fishing villages in Tanzania about whether they had received help in the form of a gift or loan from a friend living in their village and a friend living in a neighboring village. As there are local expectations that loans will be repaid but gifts will not, we predicted that close-distance friends would be more likely to help with gifts, whereas long-distance friends would be more likely to help with loans. Contrary to our predictions, gifts and loans between close- and long-distance friends were similar in kind and amount, though close-distance friends provided help more frequently, possibly because close-distance friends are more likely to meet frequently and belong to the same religious congregation. These results indicate that long-distance friendships are an important, and likely robust, strategy for managing risk and accessing more resources.
Understanding how people use communication technologies (CTs) in close relationships requires examining interdependencies in or patterns of CT use in those relationships. We combined channel ...complementarity theory and media multiplexity theory to investigate first-year college students’ (N = 155) use of CTs (video chat, phone calls, and text messaging) in close, long-distance friendships over a 3- to 10-day period. Overall, CTs were used complementarily. However, complementary use of phone calls and text messaging was higher in closer friendships. In contrast, phone calls and video chat were complementary at low but not high levels of closeness. These findings suggest utility in combining channel complementarity theory and media multiplexity theory to understand the “web” of CTs used in daily communication in long-distance friendships and point to similarities in and differences between CTs that might affect complementarity.
To determine the prevalence of long-distance relationships (LDRs) among college students and explore how relationship dynamics differed between LDRs and geographically close relationships (GCRs).
...Data were from romantically involved students (
= 2075) who participated in the 2020 College Sexual Health Survey.
Students completed an online survey in which they reported their current romantic relationship status, if they were in a long-distance relationship, and relationship dynamics (happiness, commitment, and conflict).
Overall, 34.2% of romantically involved students were in LDRs, which were more common for first-year students, students in longer duration relationships, dating relationships, and Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. LDRs were less common for older students. Based on χ
tests, relationship happiness, commitment, and conflict did not differ based on LDR status.
As LDRs are common, providing students with resources focused on navigating LDRs may help them manage their romantic relationships.
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