WESTFIELD-Couples in a romantic relationship for more than six months are sought for a unique study examining personality and relationships that is underway at Westfield State University.
The Relationships and Well-Being Lab within the Psychology Department is recruiting 50 couples – 18 years of age and older – who will first complete an online survey and then participate in a conversation with their partner with research assistants. The approximately one-hour conversation will take place in Wilson Hall, Suite 117.
Melissa Ray, Sara Cauley, and Kristina Tilli are research assistants at the Relationships and Well-Being Lab at Westfield State University. Currently, couples are sought for a study on personality and relationships.
Couples will be compensated for their participation in this study which is based on previous research from an independent study completed by Sara Cauley, supervised by Dr. Joseph Camilleri and Dr. Rebecca Burwell. Cauley graduated in May; however, she is continuing to work on this project to build off of her independent study work.
“Gaining adequate research experience is essential for reaching my goal of getting into a Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program which I am currently applying for,” said Cauley.
In the new study, researchers are interested in understanding the degree to which couples know each other and how personality contributes to relationships and communication.
“In studies conducted on a college campus, typically an undergraduate sample is used,” said Cauley. “We want our data to reflect the general population.”
Cauley noted that couples participating in this study will gain insight into relationship cooperation and will also see how research is conducted in psychology.
“Participants will be debriefed and receive more information on the hypothesis and how it contributes to scientific knowledge,” said Cauley.
Camilleri and Burwell are primary investigators who designed the study and were awarded a grant through Westfield State to study the topic. They also provided the guidelines for research assistants to set up the lab, contact and schedule participants, and run the research protocol. Additionally, they supervise students in these roles.
“The study is important for the psychology department to conduct for several reasons,” said Burwell. “First, it addresses an understudied topic that benefits the field of psychology in general, which then trickles down to our students. Second, our research assistants, who are undergraduate and graduate members of the psychology department, have been able to become involved in a grant-funded research project from start to finish which is a great learning opportunity which may be useful both in their undergraduate coursework and in graduate school and professional life.”
Burwell added that the study will expand the scope of research typically conducted in the psychology department to include community participants, which allows for “enhanced generalizability of findings.”
Camilleri echoed those sentiments.
“Within the psychology department, this study is part of a larger program of research that emerged from our respective interests in clinical and social psychology, and our shared interest in studying intimate relationship cooperation and conflict,” said Camilleri. “Many studies in this area collect data from one of the partners, but we are interested in gaining information from both partners, which provides rich information but also makes conducting the research more challenging.”
Camilleri noted that “most importantly,” the study provides students at both the undergraduate and graduate level an opportunity to take on leadership roles in managing and running meaningful research.
“Our department values evidence-based practice, and working in an active research laboratory gives students confidence in developing skills that are necessary in conducting scientific research to answer questions about human behavior and clinical practice,” said Camilleri.
Research assistants joining Cauley with the study are Kristina Tilli, Melissa Ray, and Hope Rust.
“This study is important to me because our findings from this study will form the hypothesis of my master’s thesis,” said Tilli, adding, “It is a great opportunity to gain research experience.”
Ray concurred.
“I was elated to engage in this opportunity to join the research team with two very well respected psychology professors at Westfield State,” said Ray. “I felt it was an appropriate time in my psychology career to learn how a research lab is created and ran. I believe my experiences in the research lab will also heighten my chances into a graduate program.”
Rust shared those sentiments.
“I am involved in this research in order to obtain a set of skills I can learn and use in the future with my psychology career,” said Rust. “I am also interested in discovering all of the necessary steps behind a professional research study.”
Research assistants, meeting weekly with Camilleri and Burwell, spent from January to May creating the lab itself and preparing the materials needed to run the study, according to Cauley.
“We edited the surveys, applied for IRB approval, created protocols for data collection, and ran pilot tests in the lab,” said Cauley, adding students had to manage their time “wisely” to complete the tasks of the lab for the week, as well as concentrate on other course work and internships.
“We divided up the hours into 15 hours a week,” said Cauley.
Camilleri and Burwell noted that meeting with students on a weekly basis allowed them to share their progress and to facilitate troubleshooting as a group through questions that arose.
“A number of our students go on to graduate programs in psychology and related fields, and so these experiences helps them prepare for the demands of conducting independent research,” said Camilleri, adding that “eventually” the analyzed data will be presented through conference presentations and journal articles.
For more information on participating in the study, call (413) 572-8462, or send an email to [email protected].
