著者

青山 巧

出版者

京都文教大学

雑誌

臨床心理学部研究報告 = Reports from the Faculty of Clinical Psychology Kyoto Bunkyo University (ISSN:18843751)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.14, pp.147-158, 2022-03-31

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Today, we see a diversification in the attitudes toward and circumstances of romantic relationships, as seen in the variety of gender identities and sexual orientations, and changes to the ways people meet due to the emergence of dating apps. However, there are few psychological studies focused on romantic relationships.This study aims to investigate the trends and problems of research into romantic relationships in Japan, focusing on the nature of the subjects of research, research participants, research methods and the definition of a romantic partner. In line with previous studies, the scope of research materials was limited to papers on romantic relationships published in academic journals between April 2013 and March 2020 by 56 academic associations that are members of the Japanese Union of Psychological Associations (as of April 2021).Based on our criteria, we found a total of 33 studies for analysis. Using the KJ method, we conducted analysis on what kind of phenomena were the subject of research. Studies were then classified into six categories: emotional experience and cognition; pathological phenomena; phenomena related to relationship continuity; comparison with other relationships; effects; and relationship research methodology. Romantic relationship research conducted in Japan in recent years is said to have been more focused on negative emotional experiences such as jealousy, anger, anxiety, and so on, in addition to pathological phenomena such as domestic violence, stalking and controlling behavior.When focusing on survey participants and survey methods, we found that, excluding two reviews, 23 of 31 studies (69.7% ) conducted questionnaire surveys on university students. This suggests a persistent bias in terms of survey participants and methods. Of the 33 studies, 11researches restricted their survey participants to heterosexuals. Out of which, only four defined the nature of a romantic partner, and all focused on heterosexuals.