PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Nicole A. Reece
MA-Research
Summer 2007

The Role of Insecurity, External Locus of Control, Neuroticism, Low Self-Efficacy, and Low Self-Esteem in Romantic Jealousy

    Previous research has demonstrated that the three most widely studied traits in psychology: Self-esteem, locus of control, and neuroticism, as well as the less commonly studied trait of generalized self-efficacy were strongly related, suggesting a higher-order construct.  The purpose of the current research was to determine whether a similar finding would prevail with the addition of a romantic self-efficacy scale, insecurity and romantic jealousy scales to the aforementioned trait combination.
    The results of this study were not supportive of previous research in this domain.  Specifically, three factors emerged from the traits, rather than one underlying factor.  The additional goal of establishing a romantic self-efficacy scale was successful, as initial convergent validity with related scales was moderately high.

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