PhD student explores the marriage question

In the countdown to Valentine’s Day, couples are busy buying the right gift and booking reservations for romantic dinners. But where does it all begin? University of Victoria PhD student Lisa Hoplock is delving into the psychology behind successful and failed marriage proposals.

“Research finds that people with lower self-esteem do best when ambiguity is reduced and they know for sure if the other person is going to be accepting or rejecting,” says Hoplock, who can further discuss the elements involved in the traditional marriage proposal ritual, as well as gender roles and how people react when the traditional elements are missing.

Hoplock is in the preliminary data collection phase and will be analyzing the content of close to 300 YouTube videos and 400 written descriptions of marriage proposals within mixed-sex couples. She will subsequently conduct experiments based on knowledge gained from this content analysis and is hoping to expand her focus to same-sex couples in future research.

Generally, her research examines how personality traits like self-esteem and attachment influence interpersonal processes in ambiguous social situations—situations affording both rewards and risk—such as social support contexts, relationship initiation and marriage proposals.

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