Pridmore, Aaron (2020) Developing the typology of relationship self-saboteurs. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Perhaps counter intuitively, many successful relationships appear to terminate before their natural conclusion. Relationship difficulties are among the primary reasons an individual may engage in counselling, with research supporting a link between romantic relationship difficulties and mental health diagnoses. Previous research into relationships difficulties includes attachment styles, partner expectations, rejection sensitivity and maladaptive communication strategies. Relationship sabotage provides an explanation for individuals unable to maintain healthy relationships. Proposing that some individuals employ a pattern of self-destructive behaviours in relationships to impede success and justify failure. The current study aimed to provide novel investigation into whether singles discussed relationship self-sabotage differently to those in a committed relationship, using thematic analysis. The study consisted of 502 participants and required them to complete a mixed methods online survey, exploring their previous and current relationship experience. While reasonably consistent with previous studies into romantic sabotage, the current study observed several distinctive trends expressed by participants according to their relationship status. Both singles and participants in committed relationships identified different: Motivations, strategies to maintain relationships, defensive strategies, partner expectations and insights into their behaviour. Commonalities between relationship status was also identified consisting of: Relationship inexperience, history of family violence and experience with Infidelity. Ultimately, it appears the cycle of relationship sabotage can be broken and the findings from this study may assist in the development of new items for the Relationship Self-Sabotage Scale, as well as identifying further potential characteristics of relationship self-sabotage.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Raquel Peel |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Sep 2025 01:22 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Sep 2025 01:22 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Relationship Self-Sabotage; Attachment style; Romantic Relationship difficulties; Thematic analysis; |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52676 |
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