Romantic relations among adolescents are no longer a unique issue only observed in a certain group of delinquent kids. As a matter of fact, they have become an important part of the teen culture and attracted much more attention in the society. Adoles...
Romantic relations among adolescents are no longer a unique issue only observed in a certain group of delinquent kids. As a matter of fact, they have become an important part of the teen culture and attracted much more attention in the society. Adolescents' experiences with their romantic partners not only bring extremely intense emotions and fantasies to them, but develop more practical implications to predict their interpersonal relations later in life. That's why it's critical to examine such experiences of theirs in-depth according to the developmental contexts and psychological characteristics rather than as part of the transitional period to becoming adults.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of high school girls with their romantic partners in terms of their nature and meanings. By applying the research methods of hermeneutic phenomenology by Max Van Manen, a ten-stage study was carried out consisting of a concentration of the essence of experiences, existential research, reflection of hermeneutic phenomenology, and writing of phenomenology.
The subjects include 17 high school girls aged from 16 to 18. Data were collected from their in-depth interviews, drawings, and diaries from March to June, 2007. And literary and artistic works were consulted to find more diverse materials depicting romantic relations among adolescents so that their experiences could be understood in a more overall manner.
Using the analysis results of the high school girls' experiences with their romantic partners in adolescence, the essential themes were categorized into night major themes were followed by 27 subthemes. :
<Acting coy in front of their romantic partners>
Felt good when their romantic partners asked them to go out with them after being introduced by their friends.
Being usual hussies, they too tried to speak nicely and behave carefully in front of their romantic partners.
When there's a date, they would pay extra attention to their hairdos, makeup, and clothes.
<Becoming the closest friends with their romantic partners>
Exchanged instant messages with their romantic partners all day long from waking up to going to bed.
Feeling comfortable to talk about their secrets to their trustworthy romantic partners.
The comforts from their loving romantic partners were more special and encouraging.
Spending less time with their girlfriends, they felt sorry to see the distance between them getting bigger.
<Exchanging gifts of their love with each other on anniversaries>
Felt happy and moved by their romantic partners' surprise events and gifts.
Wondered about the reactions of their romantic partners making gifts for them for themselves.
Being short of their allowances keeping anniversaries.
<Their going out with their romantic partners induces the first reaction of worrying from their parents>
Their parents were opposed to their having romantic relations that would hinder their study.
Seeing their romantic partners behind their parents' backs, they felt afraid and nervous about getting caught.
<Wishing to make public their romantic partners>
With their parents' approval, they would make official couples with their romantic partners and go out with them openly.
They would feel good when their girlfriends envied them for going out with their romantic partners.
<Even thinking about getting married to their romantic partners since romantic relations are part of the process to look for their soul mates>
Set wedding and family plans with their romantic partners.
Through romantic relations, they were looking for their soul mates.
Since there would be many fabulous opposite-sex friends in college, they couldn't be confident enough to make a promise to marry their romantic partners.
<Being afraid that their physical contacts with their romantic partners might lead to having sex>
Got excited and stimulated by physical contacts with their romantic partners that were different from those with their girlfriends.
After physical contacts, they felt closer and more intimate with their romantic partners.
Were afraid that their romantic partners might want to have sex with them.
Believed that they should not have sex because they were still young and had a future to think about.
<Getting into the stage of ennui as a turning point after 100 days since they started to go out>
Found their romantic partners boring and annoying.
After overcoming the state of ennui, they got to like their romantic partners even more.
Once they got convinced that their relationships would last long, they would wear couple rings to represent their special relations.
<Confiding the problems with their romantic partners to their girlfriends>
After having a fight with their romantic partners, they would ask frank questions about that to their close girlfriends.
Their girlfriends were curious about their romantic relations and loved to hear about them.
The nature and meanings of the high school girls' experiences of going out with their romantic partners were thus examined. Based on the results, the following conclusions were drawn. :
First, the high school girls having romantic relations with their boyfriends were largely affected by their romantic partners and girlfriends in forming self-esteem.
Second, the high school girls wanted romantic relationships, which reflects the reality that they were not accepted by their families or peers.
Third, they got intimacy not only from their emotional exchanges with their romantic partners, but also from the physical contacts with them.
Fourth, their girlfriends were the most available confidants to share their sex culture and romantic experiences.
Fifth, There occurs a turning point to their relations with their romantic partners around 100 days since they started to go out. For the first 100 days they were most immersed in their boyfriends.
The study suggests the following implications to the field of dealing with the romantic relations of today's adolescents. :
First, it's no longer necessary to hold a negative attitude towards high school girls' romantic relations among their counselors, guidance providers, and parents. On the contrary, they should make efforts to embrace the positive effects of their romantic relations and improve them so that they can have effective romantic relations.
Second, there should be thorough sex education programs that take into account their psychological, social, and physical aspects corresponding to the romantic relations and sex culture among adolescents in an integrated manner.
Finally, the following suggestions are made for future study. :
First, the subjects of the study were late adolescents. Today increasingly younger kids start romantic relations, and having a boyfriend or girlfriend is a common thing among them. Upper graders in elementary school who are early adolescents and middle school students who are middle adolescents don't have distinct concepts between same-sex and opposite-sex friends. But it's worth studying what they expect from their same-sex and opposite-sex friends and what kind of experiences they want to have with them.
Second, focusing on the late female adolescents, the study didn't develop an understanding of their male counterparts and their romantic relations. Researches into boys' experiences with their romantic partners and their differences from girls in terms of sex will help broaden the understanding of adolescents' romantic relations.
And third, high school girls face a crucial turning point after 100 days since they went out with their romantic partners. At the point, they can either develop their relationships with their boyfriends further or part with them. Since the study took an overall approach to understanding adolescents' experiences with their romantic partners, it had limitations in depicting their detailed psychological state. In future a focus should also be placed on high school girls' psychological experiences that are to change around the 100-day anniversary so as to understand their more diverse experiences