Relatively little is known about the relationships between exromantic partners. For example, is it possible for them to have a platonic friendship? The present study addresses this question by surveying both males and females who report having a cross-sex friend who was once a romantic partner and a cross-sex friend with whom there was never any romantic involvement. Both types of friendship are compared using rules of friendship, costs and benefits of friendship, romantic desires, and overall quality of the relationship. The results indicate a significant difference in the feelings towards each type of friend with more positive qualities associated with the platonic friend and more negative qualities, in addition to more romantic desires, associated with the ex-romantic partner friend. It is suggested that the relationship between ex- romantic partners is qualitatively different from a platonic cross-sex friendship.
Although relations between marital status and health have been substantiated, the results of relatively few studies suggest how or why marriage is associated with health. To understand how marriage and health are associated, this study was designed to examine the role of health beliefs. Two thousand two hundred and six (2,206) adults who participated in the New Jersey Family Health Survey provided information about their marital status, proactive health beliefs, and proactive health behaviors. Results indicated that being married (vs. single) was positively associated with men's proactive health beliefs, whereas marriage did not appear to influence women's proactive health beliefs positively. Significant relations between participants' reports of proactive health beliefs and proactive health behaviors were found. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of understanding the complex nature of associations between social relationships and health.
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