Date of Award
5-2013
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Education
First Advisor
Ray Reiplinger
Second Advisor
Mark A. Frisius
Third Advisor
Houston Thompson
Scholarship Domain(s)
Scholarship of Discovery
Abstract
This study focused on how self-disclosure about cherished possessions between female freshmen college roommates affected their levels of rapport, territoriality, and loneliness. The research was conducted at a Midwestern university during the first two weeks of the Fall 2011 semester with roommates who were previously unacquainted prior to cohabitation. The study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, participants were administered three pre-tests during the first week of the semester. In the second phase, they were asked to come back a week later and engage in a self-disclosure session with each other. Roommates in the control group self-disclosed about their textbooks, while roommates in an experimental group self-disclosed about their cherished possessions. Results indicated that while the topic of cherished possessions did not have a significant effect on rapport, territoriality, or loneliness, the passage of time between the pre-tests and the post-tests did yield significant effects for rapport, some areas of territoriality, and loneliness.
Recommended Citation
Smejkal, Christopher H., "Self-Disclosure About Cherished Possessions: Effects on Roommate Rapport, Territoriality and Loneliness" (2013). Ed.D. Dissertations. 64.
https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/edd_diss/64
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Included in
Cognition and Perception Commons, Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons, Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons
Comments
Ed.D. dissertation completed in 2013 for Olivet Nazarene University.