Content uploaded by Walton Wider
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Walton Wider on Sep 03, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
Available via license: CC BY-NC 4.0
Content may be subject to copyright.
Perceived Social Support and Romantic Relationship Quality: Better
Wingman, Parent or Friend?
Walton Widera, Goh Pheng Yuenb, Yap Lik Kenc , and How Wei Kuend
aDepartment of Psychology and Counseling, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Perak,
Malaysia; bDepartment of Psychology and Counseling, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman,
Perak, Malaysia; cDepartment of Psychology and Counseling, Universiti Tunku Abdul
Rahman, Perak, Malaysia; dDepartment of Psychology and Counseling, Universiti Tunku
Abdul Rahman, Perak, Malaysia
*Corresponding author:
Walton Wider
Department of Psychology and Counseling
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
Perak, Malaysia
Email address: waltonwider89@gmail.com
2nd International Conference on Intervention and Applied Psychology (ICIAP 2018)
Copyright © 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
506
Perceived Social Support and Romantic Relationship Quality: Better
Wingman, Parent or Friend?
Abstract— Perceived social support is associated with a better quality of romantic
relationship. Potential sources of support in a romantic relationship are members of a
close social network, such as friends and parents. Although perceived support from
both parents and friends is essential for developing and supporting a romantic
relationship, there is a gap in understanding about whether they are equally
important. This study intends to contribute additional empirical data about the topic
of romantic relationships among the emerging adults of Malaysia. A cross-sectional
study design using a survey data collection method with the revised scale of the
Social Support Index (SSI) and the Investment Model Scale–Short Version (IMS-S),
indicated a significant positive effect of friends’ support on the quality of romantic
relationships, whereas parental support was insignificant. The importance of taking
cultural and societal background into consideration is also discussed.
Keywords: early emerging adult, perceived parental support, perceived friend
support, romantic relationship quality, Malaysia
Introduction
According to emerging adult theory, one of the dimensions of emerging adulthood is identity
formation which involves the exploration of diverse life possibilities and eventually moving
toward making enduring decisions (Arnett, 2000). Romantic relationship is one of the main
areas that is involved in this process of exploration. However, it is important to comprehend
the romantic relationship in its intrapersonal and relational context (Bronfenbrenner & Morris,
2006). Research has found that perceived social support is associated with a better quality of
romantic relationship (Etcheverry & Agnew, 2004). Potential sources of support for people
who are engaged in a romantic relationship are the members of their close social network
(Sprecher, Femlee, Orbuch, & Willets, 2001), such as friends and parents.
Friends assume an essential part in affecting the beginning and maintenance of a romantic
relationship, especially in adolescence (Furman & Buhrmester, 1992; Etcheverry, Le, &
Charania, 2008; Etcheverry, Le, & Hoffman, 2013). As development processes are not
determined merely by age, friends may remain in their role as a main source of support until
the early period of emerging adulthood (Rodrigues, Lopes, Monteiro, & Prada, 2016). On the
other hand, there is evidence that parental support helps to improve adjustment, not only
socially, or in terms of well-being, but also in a romantic relationship (Le, Dik, & Barbara,
2015). During emerging adulthood, individuals start to develop a more egalitarian and mutual
relationship with their parents (Arnett, 2015). Together with reduced conflicts and increased
cohesion (Parra, Oliva, & Reina, 2015), parental support will eventually become salient to
emerging adults as well for romantic relationship maintenance (Arnett, 2015). Hence, it is fair
to conclude that during emerging adulthood, support from both friends and parents are highly
interactive with the relationship quality between an individual and his or her romantic partner.
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
507
In one study conducted in the United Kingdom (UK), they classified emerging adult
participants into two categories based on their chronological age, which were early emerging
adults (EEA; 18–21 years old) and middle emerging adults (MEA; 22–25 years old) (Arnett &
Schwab, 2012; Arnett, 2015; Rodrigues et al., 2016). Other than age difference, it was argued
that there was a difference in the perceived adult status between these two groups: the majority
of EEAs perceive themselves as not yet having entered or having partially entered adulthood,
whereas the majority of MEAs perceive themselves as having achieved adulthood. It also
demonstrated that different types of social support appear to be salient at different ages of
emerging adults. Friend support is more salient and has a greater impact upon EEA’s
relationship quality as the influence of friends during adolescence is most likely to remain
during the EEA period. On the other hand, parental influence and support will regain its
central role in influencing relationship quality during the MEA stage, as they have achieved a
more egalitarian relationship with their parents. However, according to (Nelson, Badger, &
Wu, 2004), the majority of the young people in China between the age of 18 to 25 viewed
themselves as have reached adulthood, and this figure is much higher than young people of the
same age in the United States. The researcher suggested that Chinese might be one culture that
experiences a shorter emerging adulthood, and one of the reasons is the practice of
collectivism. In contrast to the individualistic qualities that are viewed as necessary to be
considered as an adult in the United States (Arnett, 2015), the Chinese emphasize criteria
related to the responsibility to family, which reflect Confucian doctrine and the collectivistic
values in the country.
As a non-Western country, Malaysia’s emerging adults are expected to be similar to the
Chinese (Wider, Halik, Mustapha, & Bahari, 2015). Hence, emerging adulthood in Malaysia is
believed to be shorter than the UK and a higher percentage of EEA may perceive themselves
as adult than in the UK. In this research, we examined whether perceived support from parents
and friends were differently associated with relationship quality.
This research was conducted to examine on whether perceived support from parents and
friends can predict different romantic relationship outcomes. A previous study conducted by
Rodrigues and colleagues (2016) separated the emerging adult into EEA and MEA, and
claimed that EEAs are less likely to perceive themselves as having achieved adulthood than
MEAs. However, categorizing emerging adults into groups and assuming that EEAs are less
likely to perceive themselves as having acquired adult status might not be representative of
certain cultures that have a shorter emerging adulthood period (Nelson et al., 2004).
The development of a great quality of romantic relationship is important during the period of
emerging adulthood (Collins, Welsh, Furman, 2009) and it aids the process of psychological
adjustment, social well-being, and the development of a stable social identity (Loving &
Slatcher, 2013; Lee & Goldstein, 2015). Nevertheless, there has been a lack of empirical
studies that have investigated romantic relationships among the Malaysian population,
especially emerging adults in this country (Baptist, Norton, Aducci, Thompsong, & Cook,
2012). Thus, this study intends to contribute additional empirical data about the topic of
romantic relationships among emerging adults in Malaysia.
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
508
Literature Review
A. Romantic Relationship Quality
Romantic relationship is a symbol of adolescence which indicates mutual spontaneous
interactions characterized by affection and anticipated or ongoing sexual behavior (Collins et
al., 2009). There are various indicators of romantic relationship quality. These can be observed
in the way the relationship contributes to generally beneficial experiences (Collins, 2003).
Romantic relationships that are viewed as high quality often exhibit affection, intimacy, and
nourishment. On the other hand, romantic relationships that are seen as low quality will be
characterized by conflict, annoyance, and controlling behavior (Galliher, Welsh, Rostosky, &
Kawaguchi, 2004). Quality of relationship can also be viewed as the love, commitment, and
satisfaction experienced between couples (Sprecher & Felmlee, 1992). The indicator of
romantic relationship quality used in our study was characterized by beneficial effects such as
the desire to persevere (satisfaction), the need to persevere (high investment), and having no
options but to persevere (low alternatives) (Rusbult, Martz, & Agnew, 2005). An essential
romantic relationship quality is mutual dependence, which promotes high commitment if
mutual dependence is high.
Commitment is the intention to continue a relationship, which includes high attachment and
emotional investment in the long-term (Rusbult et al., 2005). Commitment will increase in
adolescence as satisfaction and investment increase, while the quality of alternatives to the
relationship decrease (De Goede, Branje, Van Duin, Van Der Valk, & Meeus, 2011). The
investment model of commitment developed from social exchange theory (Homans, 1961),
particularly from interdependence theory (Thibaut & Kelley, 1959; Kelley & Thibaut, 1980);
proposes that variables related to commitment include satisfaction, comparison to alternatives,
investment size, equity, and social support. This means that positive reactions and support for
the romantic relationship increases commitment and other feelings such as attachment, love,
and satisfaction. Interdependence theory is known to be especially useful in describing the
way people assess interpersonal relationship quality (Etcheverry et al., 2013). It explains how
we are motivated to magnify our rewards while reducing costs in our interpersonal
relationships, which includes romantic relationships. Interdependence theory states that high
levels of relationship dependence are due to higher levels of satisfaction, a bigger investment,
and the lower quality of alternatives (Etcheverry & Agnew, 2004).
B. Perceived Friends Support
Friendship is characterized by the shared interdependence of needs, wants, and goals (Fincham
& Cui, 2011). It is also indicated by fairness, mutual trust, and respect. Friends may be the
first group of people that adolescents rely on for satisfying these needs. Even though there are
many different qualities associated with friendship; including closeness, support, and intimacy
(De Goede, Branje, & Meeus, 2009); according to attachment theory, being able to relate and
gain support can trigger friendship. Perceived social support involves a person’s belief that
social support is present and accessible, and is usually considered either negative or positive,
according to whether it provides what the person needs (Norris & Kaniasty, 1996).
Meanwhile, social support refers to the degree to which social networks approve or disapprove
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
509
of a romantic relationship (Sprecher, 1988). This is the focus of our study. For instance,
friends or parents offer support by communicating and revealing their blessing or approval of
a relationship, by viewing both people as a couple, as well as being a good listener and a safe
haven when a couple face relationship problems and stress.
When adolescents view their relationship with their parents as increasingly egalitarian (De
Goede et al., 2009), they will have a more intense and supportive relationship with their
friends (De Goede et al., 2009). An individual’s circle of friends can affect dating choices by
providing positive or negative appraisals of the quality of the potential date (Wright &
Sinclair, 2012). This study was conducted with undergraduate students and found that friends’
support can determine who the individual likes (Wright & Sinclair, 2012).
Friends have an important role in influencing the start and preservation or maintenance of a
romantic relationship. As reported previously (Etcheverry et al., 2013), friends’ approval and
validation of a relationship affect romantic relationship quality in the sense of commitment.
Previous researchers (Sprecher, Felmlee, Orbuch, & Willets, 2001) also found evidence that
friends who are a source of support can determine the result of a romantic relationship;
whether it remains stable or leads to a breakup or dissolution; which is in alignment with our
hypothesis. An individual’s uncertainty over a romantic relationship reduces as the support
received from friends reinforces an individual’s beliefs about their partner, indicating that they
are meant for each other. Uncertainty can also be reduced by acquiring advice or views from
each other’s circles (Sprecher & Felmlee, 2005).
According to research by Parks (2007), disapproval from one’s friends can cause a
deterioration in partnership quality. In a relationship, young adults tend to evaluate their
relationship decisions by looking at different aspects, such as the lack of support from friends,
and the interference of a relationship with other social networks. Early emerging adults (EEA)
were more inclined to seek help from friends than family members during the relationship
initiation process in western cultures (Parks, 2007). This shows that friend support is highly
important to young adults, as friends carry more weight during the initiation of a relationship.
In addition, with friends’ support, enhances the quality of romantic relationship, including
commitment (Sinclair, Hood, & Wright, 2014), and stability (Sprecher & Felmlee, 2005).
Therefore, we hypothesized that:
H1: Perceived support from friends has a positive effect on romantic relationship quality
among early emerging adults.
C. Perceived Parental Support
In a study conducted by Meeus, Branje, van der Valk and de Wied, (2007), adolescent couples
with parental support claimed to have strong commitment to their relationship, and have fewer
emotional issues. Support from parents can be demonstrated through sharing common
activities, emotional ties, and nurturing behavior which provides a secure basis to step into the
outside world and develop new relationships (Collins & Laursen, 2004). When adolescents
move toward late adolescence, their relationship with a romantic partner will be viewed as
more important and psychological valuable than during early adolescence (De Goeder et al.,
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
510
2009). According to a study conducted by Wright & Sinclair (2012), parents who provide
more resources to their children are more influential when offering their opinions than friends.
The level of interpersonal network approval or support is positively associated with
relationship stability, satisfaction, and feelings of love and commitment, within both dating
and marital relationships, whereas network disapproval significantly predicts relationship
breakup (Felmlee, 2001). With parental approval, support is provided and hence couples are
more likely to have a higher quality, more successful relationship (De Goede et al., 2011).
Furthermore, it has been argued that when there is a positive association between social
support and relationship development, couples form a dyadic identity, similar to how a person
forms a self-identity, which eventually leads to the stability of a relationship, given that a
strong sense of dyadic identity is formed (Lewis, 1973). For instance, when support such as
being told you are a “a perfect match” or being labeled as a couple, is offered by network
members such as family or friends, the bond between two people will strengthen and
interaction between them will increase. Unsupportiveness may lead to the weakening of bonds
and may speed up the relationship’s dissolution (Sprecher & Felmlee, 1992; Felmlee, 2001).
In addition, studies have also found that support from parents benefits an individual in the
form of social well-being and adaptation, especially in a romantic relationship (Lee, Dik, &
Barbara, 2015). It has been stated that when it comes to making a huge decision, emerging
adults usually turn to their parents as a source of support. Parental support such as classifying
them as a pair, involving both people during events, and providing encouragement, are also
related to developing commitment and satisfaction in dating and marriage (Felmlee, 2001;
Sinclair, Hood, Wright, 2014). The more support and approval a pair gets from their parents,
the more stable the romantic relationship becomes as a means to form a shared and stabilized
identity. Hence, the lower the possibility and susceptibility to dissolution. Furthermore, data
has indicated that parental support increases relationship commitment, which in turn decreases
the probability of having emotional problems in romantic relationships (Meeus et al., 2007),
and enhances other positive effects; such as satisfaction, stability, and feelings of love
(Felmlee, 2001). Thus, this results in a greater possibility of having a high quality romantic
relationship (De Goede et al., 2011). Evidence from the literature on the relationship between
parental support and romantic relationship quality led us to make a prediction: that perceived
parental support positively affects the quality of a romantic relationship among EEA.
Therefore, we hypothesized that:
H2: Perceived parental support has a positive effect on romantic relationship quality
among early emerging adults
Methodology
A. Participant
There were three criteria to be fulfilled in this study, including must be an undergraduate
students, aged between 18 to 21 years old, and involved in a romantic relationship. To
determine the sample size, the G*power software was used. For the effect size, a medium level
(.15) was used in the calculation, and other adjustments were made, such as .05 for alpha, .95
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
511
for power, and 2 predictors. The calculation results showed that only a minimum sample size
of 107 respondents was needed for the study. Through snowball sampling, a total of 154
respondents were recruited and 25 of the total respondents were excluded from our samples
due to their failure to respond to more than 15% of the total items, or equivalent to three items
in total. There were two respondents who failed to respond to less than 15% of the total items,
thus the missing values in their responses were replaced using mean replacement and their
data were retained. After filtering our samples, only 129 remained for further analysis. The
average age was 19.70 (SD = 0.39), and it consisted of 82 females (63.6%). There were 127
Chinese (98.7%), one Indian, and one Chinese Philippine respectively (0.8%). All respondents
were heterosexual. Furthermore, the descriptive statistics showed that the 54 (47.4%)
respondents’ length of romantic relationship was less than a year, followed by 31 (24.7%) at
less than two years, 21 (16.7%) at less than three years, 8 (6.4%) at less than four years, 3
(2.4%) at less than five years, 3 (2.4%) at less than six years and 5 (4.0%) at less than seven
years.
B. Measures
1) Social Support Index (SSI)
We utilized the revised SSI adapted version which consists of seven items (Rodrigues et
al., 2016). The first four items measured the perceived parental support for the romantic
relationship offered by one’s parents and the partner’s parents. For example, one of the items
was “how much does your mother support your current romantic relationship?” The
remaining three items measured the perceived support from one’s friends, the partner’s
friends, and mutual friends. One of the items was “how much do your partner’s friends
support your current romantic relationship?” The responses were provided on a seven-point
Likert scale, which ranged from completely unsupportive (1) to completely supportive (7).
Both the perceived parental support and perceived friend support scales illustrated good
reliability: parental (.84) and friend (.86).
2) Investment Model Scale – Short version (IMS-S)
The current study employed the IMS-S, a 13-item version of an instrument derived from
the original 37-item IMS (Rodrigues & Lopes, 2012). There were three items for satisfaction,
investment size, and quality of alternatives subscales, and four items for the commitment
subscale. An example of an item for satisfaction was “I feel satisfied with our relationship,”
and for investment size was “I feel very involved in our relationship-like I have put a great
deal into it,” whereas for quality of alternatives was “the people other than my partner with
whom I might become involved are very appealing,” and lastly for commitment was “I want
our relationship to last for a very long time.” Responses were given on a seven-point Likert
scale, which ranged from “Do not agree at all” (1) to “Agree completely” (7). Each factor in
the IMS-S demonstrated have high reliability, as illustrated by the Cronbach’s alpha for
satisfaction (.94), quality of alternatives (.80), investment size (.82), and commitment (.89).
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
512
D. Data Analysis
All the completed questionnaires were collected and the data keyed in into the Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 to conduct the data analysis. All the data
collected through Qualtrics were transferred to SPSS as well before the analysis began. Then,
data cleaning was carried out on all the data in SPSS. Data with more than 15% (n = 15)
missing values were deleted, and those with missing value less than 15% (n = 2) were
completed using the mean replacement of the missing value referring to the mode of the
response for that particular item. After data cleaning, the raw data were converted into a
comma separated values file and transferred to SmartPLS 2.0 M3 to proceed with data
analysis.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. SEM is a statistical model
that illustrates the relationships between multiple variables (Hair Jr, Black, Babin, &
Anderson, 2010). PLS-SEM is a second-generation multivariate data analysis method which
functions as an important tool for testing theory and causal modeling (Reisinger & Mavondo,
2007).
PLS-SEM comes with a few advantages. It is able to overcome the shortcoming of using first-
generation multivariate data analysis methods, such as multiple regression, which can be
conducted by SPSS (Haenlein & Kaplan, 2004). PLS-SEM is also able to analyze complex
models with multiple constructs, especially when both the mediator and moderator are used,
and it also helps to reduce the sample size needed (Urback & Ahlemann, 2012).
Results
The mean score of items for perceived parental support was 4.95 (SD = 1.19), for perceived
friend support 5.95 (SD = 0.98), and for romantic relationship quality items 5.94 (SD = 0.83).
Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data using the SmartPLS 2.0
software. A two-step procedure that included measurement model assessment and structural
model assessment was necessary, hence both assessments were conducted during our analysis
(Hair et al., 2017). The former examined validity and reliability, whereas the latter analyzed
the hypothesized relationships.
A. Measurement Model Assessment
This study involved three reflective variables, which were perceived parental support,
perceived friend support, and romantic relationship quality. The reliability and validity of the
constructs was assessed to determine the measurement model. To evaluate the measurement
model, the composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE) had to be
determined (Chin, 2010). For reliability, an assessment of indicator reliability and construct
reliability were performed by checking the loading of each indicator with its associated latent
construct, because the loadings of each item with its associated construct had to be greater
than 0.7 (Hair et al., 2017). However, indicator loadings between 0.40 and 0.70 should only be
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
513
removed if deleting the item would increase the CR or AVE above the threshold value (Hair et
al., 2017). According to Table I, a total of five items were removed from the romantic
relationship quality construct (RRQ_4, RRQ_6, RRQ_7, RRQ_9, and RRQ_11) due to low
factor loadings. Construct reliability can be assessed by using CR or Cronbach’s alpha
coefficient, however, CR is deemed more suitable for PLS-SEM [44]. Table I shows the CR of
all first-order latent variables was more than 0.70, and thus confirmed the internal consistency
of the measurement model.
Next, the validity of measurement model was assessed by determining the convergent and
discriminant validity (Hair et al., 2017). AVE is used to measure the amount of variance in a
latent variable as contributed by its indicators (Chin, 2010). For a convergent validity to be
accepted, the AVE value has to be equal or above 0.5 (Hair Jr., Bush, & Ortinau, 2013).
Table I shows that all constructs had achieved convergent validity as their AVEs were above
0.5. The discriminant validity was assessed to ensure all items were measuring different
concepts or differentiated concepts. To determine the discriminant validity, criteria were
tested (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). During the criteria test, comparisons were made between
the square roots of AVE and the correlations (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Table II shows that
the all the square roots of AVE were higher than the equivalent row and column values,
therefore all the constructs were sufficiently differentiated from each other. This showed that
the model had achieved discriminate validity.
TABLE I. RESULTS OF MEASUREMENT MODEL
Construct
Item
Convergent Validity
Factor
loading
s
AVE
CR
Perceived
Parental
Support
PPS_1
0.829
0.808
0.927
PPS_2
0.781
PPS_3
0.866
PPS_4
0.871
Perceived
Friend Support
PFS_1
0.922
0.701
0.904
PFS_2
0.854
PFS_3
0.919
Romantic
Relationship
Quality
RRQ_1
0.794
0.583
0.918
RRQ_2
0.734
RRQ_3
0.836
RRQ_5
0.732
RRQ_7
0.512
RRQ_8
0.738
RRQ_1
0
0.748
RRQ_1
2
0.767
RRQ_1
3
0.751
Note. RRQ_4, RRQ_6, RRQ_7, RRQ_9, RRQ_11 were removed due to low factor loadings.
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
514
TABLE II. DISCRIMINANT VALIDITY OF FIRST-ORDER CONSTRUCTS
1
2
3
1
Perceives Friend
Support
0.837a
-
-
2
Perceived Parental
Support
0.546
0.899a
-
3
Romantic
Relationship
Quality
0.509
0.339
0.764a
a. Values represent square root of AVE while those without indicate correlations between constructs.
B. Structural Model Assessment
The values of R2, t-value, standard beta, and predictive relevance (Q2) were assessed in the
structural model (Hair Jr., Hult, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2017). In this study, bootstrapping used
5000 resamples. As shown in Table III, the value of R2 was 0.264, which is categorized as
moderate (Cohen, 1988). The value of R2 indicates that romantic relationship quality explains
26.4% of the variance in perceived parental support and perceived friend support. For direct
effect, perceived friend support (β = .461, p < 0.01) significantly predicted romantic
relationship quality, whereas perceived parental support (β = .087, p > 0.05) did not. Thus,
H1 was supported and H2 was unsupported. The Stone-Geisser’s Q2 is used to assess
predictive relevance and examine the predictive capacity of the research model (Henseler,
Ringle, & Sinkovics, 2009). To determine the predictive relevance, a blindfolding procedure
was used. Table III shows that the Q2 value was .154, which was more than zero, and showed
the exogenous constructs (perceived parental support, and perceived friend support) had a
predictive relevance for the endogenous construct (romantic relationship quality).
TABLE III. RESULTS OF HYPOTHESIS TESTING
Path Coefficient
t-Value
Decision
R2
Q2
H1
PFS
RRQ
0.461
4.83**
Supported
.264
.154
H2
PPS
RRQ
0.087
1.12
Unsupported
**p-value <0.01
Note. PFS: perceived friend support; PPS: perceived parental support; RRQ: romantic relationship
quality
Discussion
The findings in this study indicated that perceived friend support was a significant predictor of
romantic relationship quality among EEA, however the findings indicated that perceived
parental support was not a significant predictor of romantic relationship quality. The
insignificant relationship between perceived parental support and romantic relationship quality
cam be explained through individual factors, such as psychological reactance. Psychological
reactance is defined as the negative emotional state that emerges when one perceives his or her
freedom is being confined (Brehm, 1966). This negative emotional state is part of the
mechanism that helps to arouse certain behaviors to restore the restricted freedom. People tend
to exhibit reactance when they perceive themselves as having the power to disregard or ignore
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
515
the opinions, wishes, or desires given by their social network members without any negative
outcomes. A less confrontational form of reactance is resisting other’s persuasion or influence
and persisting in their pre-existing course of action.
In a slightly dated research study conducted by Woller, Buboltz, & Loveland (2007), the
relationship between age and reactance was investigated, and they found that people from a
younger-aged group (18–24) were more reactant than the middle-aged group (35–44) and the
older-aged group (45–54). Although it was not mentioned in the research, the younger-aged
employed fell into the category of early emerging adulthood (18–21) and middle emerging
adulthood (22–25). Thus, this might imply that the EEA recruited in our study were high in
reactance level as well. It has also been pointed out that psychological reactance reaches a
peak during emerging adulthood (18–25 years old) and this might be the reason behind the
greater likelihood of emerging adults engaging themselves in risky behaviors, such as binge
drinking and substance use (Fingerman, Miller, Birditt, & Zarit, 2009; Miller & Quick, 2010).
In addition, as mentioned earlier, emerging adults tend to have a more egalitarian relationship
with their parents (Arnett, 2015), and in fact slightly more than half of our total sample (n = 65)
thought they had established an equal relationship with their parents.
Thus, emerging adults might perceive themselves as able to maintain a romantic relationship
regardless of the opinions of their parents, without any potential negative outcomes. It is
important to note that we did not disregard the important role of perceived parental support in
helping to improve romantic relationship quality. However, it is important to consider the
impact of individual reactance alongside the more egalitarian relationship between emerging
adults and their parents.
Friends provide security and coziness for each other (Arnett, 2007), hence it is crucial for
them to develop a sense of belonging to a network and to be recognized as a part of a social
scene. By developing such a sense, intimacy between them will also be enhanced, allowing
them to share their intimate and deep feelings and thoughts more often, instead of concealing
them from each other. Usually romantic partners are common members of one close group of
friends, and they have the tendency to have mutual friends when in a romantic relationship
(Furman, 1999). As for emerging adults, intrinsic investments are crucial and important for a
relationship, because they are valued as resources that bring comfort. One example of an
intrinsic investment is spending quality time with each other, hanging out as well as
disclosing personal details (Sprecher & Felmlee, 2005). Studies have also revealed that
friends, as figures that provide social and moral support, can actually affect the quality of a
romantic relationship, either by enhancing the stability of the relationship or leading to a
break up (Sprecher et al., 2001). Friends’ approval of a romantic relationship will act as a
reinforcement, strengthening the individual’s belief he or she has made the correct choice and
has a compatible partner, hence reducing the uncertainties of the relationship. The same
outcome can be achieved by seeking guidance or opinions from each other’s social network
(Sprecher & Felmlee, 2005).
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
516
Conclusion
This study has further determined the relationship between the two sources of social support
and the romantic relationship quality of the EEA in Malaysia. As such, this study provides
further understanding of the factors that influence the romantic relationship quality of
emerging adults in the Malaysian context. These findings open several new avenues for
future research on this population. Last but not least, the study results also have academic and
practical implications for human services professionals and wider society.
A. Implications
As the development of a romantic relationship is one of the most important developmental
tasks for EEA, and a good romantic relationship will aid their psychological adjustment, social
well-being, and social identity, it is important to understand the factors that can significantly
affect the quality of their romantic relationships. Here we identify the implications of our
study for the public, policy makers, and theory. Our findings showed that perceived friend
support was a significant predictor of EEA’ romantic relationship quality, whereas perceived
parental support was not. With an awareness of this finding in mind, people around the early
emerging adult stage may be more likely to emphasize the importance of friend selection and
the social influence exerted by friends. For example, parents may want to play their role by
monitoring their child’s social network. School or university counselors may want to take peer
influence into consideration when they are trying to understand the factors that lead to a
problematic romantic relationships among their early emerging adult clients. They may wish
to consider integrating friend support in couple counseling and intervention programs. Peers
who understand their power of influence may want to be more supportive when their friends
are facing a relationship crisis, or having problem initiating and maintaining a romantic
relationship. Support can be offered by approving the relationship, communicating blessings
to the couple, and being a good listener when their friends are facing relationship problems.
Our study also has practical implications for the youth development policy in our country. As
mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia which was led by YB Khairy
Jamaluddin, the Minister of Youth and Sports, announced that the Malaysian Youth Policy
(MYP) would be implemented in 2018 to replace the outdated National Youth Development
Policy. However, one of the flaws of the MYP is that it does not clearly identify the emerging
adult population, although they are focusing their resources on building and developing youth
aged between 18 to 25 years old. This failure to acknowledge the existence of the emerging
adult population may imply that the policy makers are not aware of the concept of emerging
adulthood, and thus policy designs may overlook the distinctive and unique needs of emerging
adults in Malaysia. Now, after the 14th General Election, with the gradual formation of the
new cabinet, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia is being led by a new minister, YB
Syed Saddiq. We hope that our findings can spark the attention and interest of policy makers
in redefining youth and revising their upcoming policy accordingly, so that emerging adults in
Malaysia can benefit.
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
517
The revised youth policy may want to invite youth development workers to work with schools
or universities directly (as here we are referring to EEA, the majority of them may have
proceeded to tertiary education), or if they are already present in the school or university, their
roles should be given more emphasis. They could offer soft skills programs, such as teaching
students simple counseling skills. For instance, active listening skills, empathy, and
paraphrasing could be taught so that the students are able to provide a listening ear to their
friends that are facing challenges in life, especially difficulties in romantic relationships.
Our findings also contribute to the theory of emerging adulthood. The theory formulated has
noted the importance of taking cultural and societal background into consideration (Arnett,
2000). Our study was carried out in Malaysia, a country where collectivism is widely
practiced, and this has influenced the factors mentioned above (Nelson et al., 2004). Thus, the
findings of our study contribute not only additional empirical data to the theory but also help
to view emerging adulthood from a different cultural perspective. Furthermore, our study
contributes more empirical data and evidence to the subject of romantic relationships among
emerging adults in Malaysia, specifically on how perceived support can influence their
romantic relationship quality. To the best of our knowledge, only limited and sparse research
efforts have investigated this topic so far. Thus, it is fair to claim that our study findings help
to enrich the theory of the emerging adult and improve the applicability of the theory in the
Malaysian context.
B. Limitations and Future Recommendations
The limitations of this study include the homogeneity of the samples’ sexuality and limited
generalizability. One of the major limitations of this study is that our sample only involved
heterosexual participants. Although we did not set the criteria for sexuality, we still failed to
capture any data from non-heterosexual respondents. Besides, non-heterosexuals living in
Chinese collectivistic culture have been proven to be less likely to reveal their sexuality as it
does not conform to the norms (Liu, Feng, Ha, Liu, Cai, Liu, & Li, 2011; Zhao, Ma, Chen, Li,
Qin, & Hu, 2016). Thus, if we still hold on to the assumption made earlier: that emerging
adults in Malaysia are similar to the emerging adults in China (Wider et al., 2015), then the
norms practiced among these two groups of emerging adults should be similar. Hence, one of
the reasons for this limitation is related to challenges identifying non-heterosexuals. Thus, we
cannot generalize the results yielded in this study to non-heterosexual EEA. Various studies
have found that there is a difference in family supportiveness of heterosexual and homosexual
romantic relationships (Blair & Holmberg, 2008); therefore, we recommend including a non-
heterosexual sample in future studies to investigate whether the differences in social support
are correlated with different romantic relationship outcomes among EEA. Multiple variables
need to be controlled, such as parents’ and friends’ acceptance of non-heterosexuality and
their acceptance of a non-heterosexual romantic relationship.
Another limitation of this study was the poor generalizability of the study results. This study
was conducted with EEA who were university students, and raises concerns about its
generalizability to non-student EEA. Hence, the application of the results to non-student EEA
should be avoided. There is empirical evidence showing differences between student
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
518
emerging adults and non-student emerging adults, specifically in terms of demographic and
psychosocial factors (Halperin, 2001). Thus, we suggest that future studies should involve a
more diversified sample to examine the differences and similarities between student and non-
student EEA.
References
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties.
American Psychologist, 55(5), 469-480.
Arnett, J. J. (2007). Emerging adulthood: What is it, and what is it good for? Childhood Development
Perspectives, 1(2), 68-73.
Arnett, J. J. (2015). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the tate teens through the twenties (3rd ed.).
Oxford: New York
Arnett, J. J. & Schwab, J. (2012). The Clack University poll of emerging adults: Thriving, struggling, and
hopeful. Clark University: Worcester. Retrieved from http://www2.clarku.edu/clark-poll-emerging-
adults/pdfs/clark-university-poll-emerging-adults-findings.pdf
Baptist, J. A., Norton, A. M., Aducci, C. J., Thompsong, D. E., & Cook, A. (2012). Relationship maintenance
behaviors: A cross-cultural examination of emerging adults in romantic relationships. Journal of
Couple & Relationship Therapy, 11(1), 33-50.
Blair, K. L. & Holmberg, D. (2008). Perceived social network support and well-being in same-sex versus
mixed-sex romantic relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 25(5), 769-791.
Brehm, J. W. (1966). A theory of psychological reactance. Oxford, England: Academic Press.
Bronfenbrenner, U. & Morris, P. (2006). The bioecological model of human development. In I. R. Lerner & W.
Damon (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (vol. 1, pp. 793-828). Hoboken: Wiley.
Chin, W. W. (2010). How to write up and report PLS analyses. In Handbook of partial least squares (pp. 655-
690). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). New York: Lawrence
Eribaum Associates.
Collins, W. A. (2003). More than myth: The developmental significance of romantic relationships during
adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 13(1), 1-24.
Collins, W. A. & Laursen, B. (2004). Changing relationships, changing youth: Interpersonal contexts of
adolescent development. Journal of Early Adolescence, 24(1), 55-62.
Collins, W. A., Welsh, D. P., Furman, W. (2009). Adolescence romantic relationships. Annuals Review of
Psychology, 60, 631-652.
De Goede, I. H. A., Branje, S. J. T., & Meeus, W. H. J. (2009). Developmental changes and gender differences
in adolescents’ perceptions of friendships. Journal of Adolescence, 32(5), 1105-1123.
De Goede, I. H. A., Branje, S. J. T., & Meeus, W. H. J. (2009). Developmental changes in adolescents’
perceptions of relationships with their parents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(1), 75-88.
De Goede, I. H. A., Branje, S., Van Duin, J., Van Der Valk, I. E., & Meeus, W. (2011). Romantic relationship
commitment and its linkages with commitment to parents and friends during adolescence. Social
Development, 21(3), 425-442.
Etcheverry, P. E. & Agnew, C. R. (2004). Subjective norms and prediction of romantic relationship state and
fate. Personal Relationships, 11(4), 409-428.
Etcheverry, P. E., Le., B., & Charania, M. R. (2008). Perceived versus reported referent approval and romantic
relationship commitment and persistence. Personal Relationshop, 15(3), 281-295.
Etcheverry, P. E., Le., B., & Hoffman, N. G. (2013). Predictors of friend approval for romantic relationships.
Personal Relationships, 20(1), 69-83.
Femlee, D. L. (2001). No couple is an island: A social network perspective on dyadic stability. Social Forces,
79(4), 1259-1287.
Fincham, F. D. & Cui, M. (2011). Romantic relationships in emerging adulthood. United Kingdom: Cambridge
University Press.
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
519
Fingerman, K., Miller, L., Birditt, K., Zarit, S. (2009). Giving to the good and the needy: Parental support of
grown children. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(5), 1220-1233.
Fornell, C. & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and
measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39-50.
Furman, W. (1999). Friend and lovers: The role of peer relationships in adolescent romantic relationships. In W.
Collins and B. Laursen (Eds), Relationship as a developmental context the Minnesota Symposia on
child psychology (pp. 133-154). Hillsdale: Eribaum.
Furman, W. & Buhrmester, D. (1992). Age and sex differences in perceptions of networks of personal
relationships. Child Development, 63(1), 103-115.
Galliher, R. V., Welsh, D. P., Rostosky, S. S., & Kawaguchi, M. C. (2004). Interaction and relationship quality
in late adolescent romantic couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 21(2), 203-216.
Haenlein, M. & Kaplan, A. M. (2004). A beginner’s guide to partial least squares analysis. Understanding
Statistics, 3(4), 283-297.
Hair Jr, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th Eds). Upper
Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Hair Jr, J. F., Bush, R., & Ortinau, D. (2013). Marketing research: Within a changing information environment.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
Hair, Jr., Hult, T., Ringle, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). A primer on partial least squares structural equation
modeling (PLS-SEM) (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Limited.
Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sinkovics, R. R. (2009). The use of partial least squares path modelling in
international marketing. In R. R. Sinkovics & P. N. Ghauri (eds), New Challenges to International
Marketing Vol. 20 (pp. 277-319). West Yorkhire: Emerald Publishing.
Halperin, S. (2001). The forgotten half revisited: American youth and young families. 1988-2008. Retrieved
from http://www.aypf.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/The-Forgotten-Half-Revisited-Optimized1.pdf.
Homans, G. C. (1961). Social behaviour: Its elementary forms. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Kelley. H. H. & Thibaut, J. W. (1980). Interpersonal Relations: A theory of interdependence. New York: John
Wiley.
Lee, C. Y. S., Dik, B. J., Barbara, L. A. (2015). Intergenerational solidarity and individual adjustment during
emerging adulthood. Journal of Family Issues, 37(10), 1412-1432.
Lee, C. Y. S. & Goldstein, S. (2015). Loneliness, stress, and social support in young adulthood: Does the source
of support matter? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(30), 568-580.
Lewis, R. A. (1973). Social reaction and the formation of dyads: An interactionist approach to mate selection.
Sociometry, 36(3), 409-418.
Liu, H., Feng, T., Ha, T., Liu, H., Cai, Y., Liu, X., & Li, J. (2011). Chinese culture, homosexuality stigma,
social support and condom: A path analytic model. Stigma Research and Action, 1(1), 27-35.
Loving, T. & Slatcher, R. (2013). Romantic relationships and health. In J. Simpson & L. Cambell (Eds.), The
Oxford Handbook of Close Relationship (pp. 617-637). New York: Oxford.
Meeus, W. H. J., Branje, S. J. T., Van Der Valk, I., & de Wied, M. (2007). Relationships with intimate partner,
best friend, and parents in adolescence and early adulthood: A study of the saliency of the intimate
partnership. International Journal of Behavioural Development, 31(6), 569-580.
Miller, C. H. & Quick, B. L. (2010). Sensation seeking and psychological reactance as health risk predictors for
an emerging adult population. Health Communication, 25(3), 266-275.
Nelson, L. J., Badger, S., & Wu, B. (2004). The influence of culture in emerging adulthood: Perspectives of
Chinese college students. International Journal of Behavioural Development, 28(1), 26-36.
Norris, F. H. & Kaniasty, K. (1996). Received and perceived social support in times of stress: A test of the
social support deterioration deterrence model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(3),
498-511.
Parra, A., Oliva, A., & Reina, C. (2015). Family relationships from adolescence to emerging adulthood: A
longitudinal study. Journal of Family Issues, 36(14), 2002-2020.
Parks, M. R. (2007). Personal Relationships and Personal Networks. New York: Routledge.
Reisinger, Y. & Mavondo, F. (2007). Structural equation modelling: Critical issues and new developments.
Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 21(4), 41-71.
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
520
Rodrigues, D. & Lopes, D. (2012). The Investment Model Scale (IMS): Further studies on construct validation
and development of a shorter version (IMS-S). The Journal of General Psychology, 140(1), 16-28
Rodrigues, D., Lopes, D., Monteiro, L., & Prada, M. (2016). Perceived parent and friend support for romantic
relationship in emerging adults. Personal Relationship, 24(1), 4-16.
Rusbult, C. E., Martz, J. M., & Agnew, C. R. (2005). The investment model scale: Measuring commitment
level, satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size. Personal Relationship, 5(4), 357-
387.
Sinclair, H. C., Hood, K. B., & Wright, B. L. (2014). Revisiting the Romeo and Juliet effect: Reexamining the
links between social network opinions and romantic relationship outcomes. Social Psychology, 45(3),
170-178.
Sprecher, S. (1988). Investment model, equity, and social support determinants of relationship commitment.
Social Psychology Quarterly, 51(4), 318-328.
Sprecher, S. & Femlee, D. (1992). The influence of parents and friends on the quality and stability of romantic
relationships: A three-wave longitudinal investigation. Journal of Marriage and Family Relations,
54(4), 888-900.
Sprecher, S. & Femlee, D. (2005). Romantic partners’ perceptions of social network attributes with the passage
of time and relationship transitions. Personal Relationships, 7(4), 325-340.
Sprecher, S., Femlee, D., Orbuch, T. L., & Willets, M. C. (2001). Social network and change in personal
relationships. In A. L. Vangelisti, H. T. Reis, & M. A. Fitzpatrick (Eds), Stability and change in
relationship: Advances in Personal Relationship (pp. 257-284). New York: Cambridge University
Press.
Thibaut, J. W. & Kelley, H. H. (1959). The Social Psychology of Groups. Oxford: Wiley. Retrieved from
https://ia800302.us.archive.org/18/items/socialpsychology00thib/socialpsychology00thib.pdf
Urback, N. & Ahlemann, J. B. (2012). Structural equation modeling in information systems research using
partial least squares. Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application, 11(2), 5-40.
Wider, W., Halik, M., Mustapha, M., & Bahari, F. (2015, November). Concept, dimensions and source of
emerging adulthood: Reviewing this phenomenon among Malaysian youth. Paper presented at
International Multidisciplinary Conference at Universiy of Muhammadiyah, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Woller, K. M. P., Buboltz, W. C., & Loveland, J. M. (2007). Psychological reactance: Examine across age,
ethnicity, and gender. American Journal of Psychology, 120(1), 15-24.
Wright, B. L. & Sinclair, C. H. (2012). Pulling the strings: Effects of friend and parent opinion on dating
choices. Personal Relationships, 19(4), 743-758.
Zhao, Y., Ma, Y., Chen, R., Li, F., Qin, X., & Hu, Z. (2016). Non-disclosure of sexual orientation to parents
associated with sexual risk behaviors among gay and bisexual MSM in China. AIDS and Behavior,
20(1), 193-203.
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 229
521
