Note # 4

    Furman (2002) stated that there has been a great interest of researchers on romantic relationships because it sparks from the observation that these relationships are significant to adolescents’ lives.

    There are a lot researches on the characteristics of adolescent which may be related romantic experiences but studies about romantic experiences centers on Euro-American youths or mostly Western societies. Since Western societies have different culture than other societies, further research is needed focusing on other societies (Furman, 2002).

   Researchers theorized that romantic relationship is essential to the development of adolescents in different aspects such as “transformation of family relationships”, “close relationships with peers”, “sexuality”, and “career planning”. Romantic relationships become more and more significant to adolescents in their social world as they also develop from puberty towards late adolescence. For college students, romantic partners are mostly supportive for both genders (Furman, 2002).

      Conversely, advantages and threats of “romantic experiences” vary. Monroe et. al,  (1999) as cited by Furman(2002), stated that breakups mostly the cause of depression. Adolescents are mostly prone to problems in adjustment when they involve in romantic relationships at an early stage of their adolescence life. This implies that romantic involvement brings adolescents to complications. Nevertheless, there are also instances in which “adolescents who are not well adjusted are more likely to become prematurely or overly involved in romantic relationships than their better adjusted peers” (Furman, 2002).

      Furman (2002) indicated that there is no exact pattern of romantic relationships development because experiences and interest vary. However, we can still observe some similarities of the pattern of romantic experiences.

Reference :

Furman, W. (2002). The emerging field of adolescent

romantic relationships. Current Directions in Psychological Science 11(5), 177-180. Retrieved from http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/dmessinger/c_c/rsrcs/rdgs/peers_social_general/furman.adol_romance.curddir2002.pdf