Relationship is a natural part of human life and individuals experience close relationships in this process. Research indicates that for healthy relationships, it is necessary to have satisfaction and needs being met within the close relationship, especially in romantic relationship (Guerrero, Anderson & Afifi, 2011).

Guerrero, Anderson and Afifi (2011) attach high importance to past relationship experiences and comparisons partners make by observing other relationships. Sacher and Fine (1996) mentions that amount of time spent in a relationship affects satisfaction, which is closely related with the quality of communication. If partners can talk about the problem and solve the conflict, the feeling of satisfaction increases (Gottman, 1994). Likewise, self-disclosure is another indicator of satisfaction because there is the opportunity to express deeper feelings, and so being understood (Guerrero, Anderson & Afifi, 2011). At last but not least, expectations are seen the most effective component of satisfaction since having realistic expectations or not might affect the process within the relationship. Kenny and Acitelli (2001) states that realistic expectations help partners see the other’s needs objectively and create a sense of security within the relationship.

The satisfaction is a crucial term for healthy relationships because the association between dissatisfaction about the relationship and depression has been evident in Rosand et al. (2012)’s study. On the other side, low relationship satisfaction is associated with high need for power (Winter, 1973). This might lead to another possible indicator of relationship satisfaction. Can power be a predictor? If people are in need of power, might they feel unsatisfied in their romantic relationships? Power is defined as the ability to achieve ends through influence and this is under the person’s control used in different scenarios (Huston, 1983, p.170). In other words, power means the ability to influence the other’s behaviors (French & Raven, 1959). It is stated by Huston (1983) that a relationship cannot be considered as close unless two people have influence on each other for a relatively long period of time. As there is an influence over the other partner’s behaviors, there are conducted many studies which have examined the relationship between power and relationship satisfaction (Oyamot, Fuglestad & Snyder, 2010). The results showed that if there is asymmetry, partners become unsatisfied (Gray-Little & Burks, 1983). On the contrary, when there is symmetry, where the balance of influence is equal, partners feel more satisfied (Oyamot, Fuglestad & Snyder, 2010).

Until now, marital satisfaction has been studied in accordance with power issue (Gray-Little & Burks, 1983). However, the literature seems to have fewer studies conducted with dating relationships, especially college students who can bring a different perspective to the power issue because romantic relationship in early adolescence is short lasting, causal and less influencial (Feiring, 1996); on the contrary, romantic relationship in college years is considered as more meaningful (Saffrey & Ehrenberg, 2007), more trustful, supportive and stable compared to early adolescent (Shulman & Kipnis, 2001). Further to that, in those years, individuals experiences romantic relationships and starts shaping their perspectives toward romantic relationship. Relationship satisfaction is influenced by various properties including the possible effect of power. As power diversifies in bases, different samples of close relationship might give different results such as parent-child relationship, romantic relationships, marital relationships, etc. Consequently, it is worth conducting studies on the role of power in relationship satisfaction. The main purpose of this study is to find out the role of power and gender in predicting romantic relationship satisfaction among college students. Under the light of all these information, the research question is: What is the role of power and gender in predicting romantic relationship satisfaction among college students?

Anderson, C., John, O.P. & Keltner, D. (2012). The Personal Sense of Power. Journal of Personality, 80(2), 313-344. Feiring, C. (1996). Concept of romance in 15 year-old adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 6, 181-200. French, J. & Raven, B. (1959). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Studies in Social Power (pp. 150-165). Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research. Gottman, J. M. (1994). What predicts divorce? The relationship between marital processes and marital outcomes. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Gray-Little, B. & Burks, N. (1983). Power and satisfaction in marriage: A review and critique. Psychological Bulletin, 93, 513-538. Guerrero, L. K., Anderson, P. A. & Afifi, W. A. (2011). Close encounters: Communication in relationships (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage. Hendrick, S. S. (1988). A generic measure of relationship satisfaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50, 93–98. Huston, T. L. (1983). Power. In Kelley, H.H., Berscheid, E., Christensen, A., Harvey, H., Huston, T.L., Levinger, G.,…, Peterson, D.R. (2002), Close Relationships. New York: Percheron Press. Kenny, D. A. & Acitelli, L. K. (2001). Accuracy and bias in the perception of the partner in a close relationship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 439–448. Oyamot, C. M., Fuglestad, P.T. & Snyder, M. (2010). Balance of power and influence in relationships: The role of self-monitoring. Journal of Social and Personal Relationship, 27(1): 23–46. doi: 10.1177/0265407509347302 Rosand, G.M., Slinning, K., Eberhard-Gran, M., Roysamb, E. & Tambs, K. (2012). The buffering effect of relationship satisfaction on emotional distress in couples. BMC Public Health, 12, 66. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-66 Sacher, J. A. & Fine, M. A. (1996). Predicting relationship status and satisfaction after six months among dating couples. Journal of Marriage & the Family, 58(1), 21-32. doi:10.2307/353374 Saffrey, C. & Ehrenberg, M. (2007). When thinking hurts: Attachment, rumination, and postrelationship adjustment. Personal Relationships, 14(3), 351-368. Schwarzwald, J., Koslowsky, M. & Izhak-Nir, E.B. (2008). Gender role ideology as a moderator of the relationship between social power tactics and marital satisfaction. Sex Roles, 59, 657–669. doi: 10.1007/s11199-008-9454-y Shulman, S. & Kipnis, O. (2001). Adolescent romantic relationships: A look from the future. Journal of Adolescence, 24(3), 337–351. Stafford, R., Backman E. & Dibona, P. (1977). The division of labor among cohabiting and married couples. Journal of Marriage and Family, 39(1), 43-57. Winter, D.G. (1973). The power motive. New York: Free Press.