Like many areas of research in psychology, relationship science suffers from historically drawing from “WEIRD” samples (i.e., Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic; Heinrich et al., 2010). However, despite over a decade’s worth of awareness on the limitations of recruiting from limited participant backgrounds and contexts, much of the social-personality work on romantic relationships remains largely dependent on White, heterosexual, relatively higher SES participants from North American and Western European countries. Part of the difficulty in addressing the heterogeneity in samples within the literature lies in barriers to publishing work from diverse populations and diverse contexts in top journals in the field. However, diversity is more multifaceted than commonly understood, and if relationship research does not strive to become more inclusive with the samples and contexts in which theoretical advancements are examined, then our understanding of important relationship processes will continue to remain limited.
For relationship research to advance, the traditional barriers to publishing research employing diverse samples and contexts must be removed. This includes barriers that treat diverse samples and applications in diverse contexts as separate from foundational theory building. Additionally, the inclusion and extension of research to diverse samples needs to be thoughtful to ensure that unique insights gained by including diverse populations are not washed out. Thus, more research is needed that replicates and/or extends existing theoretical perspectives to novel populations and contexts to highlight where the existing knowledge is generalizable across contexts, and where it falls apart. These insights aimed at understanding diversity and variation will not only help advance our theoretical understanding of relationship processes, but also benefit educators who are looking to diversify their reading lists and lecture materials.
The theme for this research topic is “Diversity in Relationship Science” and we are inviting authors to submit papers that address relationship processes using a diverse lens. For this call, "diversity" is broadly construed, including—but not limited to—race, ethnicity, culture and religion, sexual orientation (i.e., LGBTQA+), gender minority groups, relationship style (i.e., polyamory, consensual non-monogamy), socioeconomic status, mental and physical health, body weight, disabled adults, single adults, relationships in older adulthood, migrant couples, as well as other underrepresented groups in relationship research or marginalized groups in society not listed above. Authors are invited to submit original empirical papers, including original research and methods articles. Systematic and theoretical reviews may be considered if they provide sufficient insights that advance our understanding of relationships in diverse populations and contexts rather than simply highlight existing gaps in our understanding.
Like many areas of research in psychology, relationship science suffers from historically drawing from “WEIRD” samples (i.e., Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic; Heinrich et al., 2010). However, despite over a decade’s worth of awareness on the limitations of recruiting from limited participant backgrounds and contexts, much of the social-personality work on romantic relationships remains largely dependent on White, heterosexual, relatively higher SES participants from North American and Western European countries. Part of the difficulty in addressing the heterogeneity in samples within the literature lies in barriers to publishing work from diverse populations and diverse contexts in top journals in the field. However, diversity is more multifaceted than commonly understood, and if relationship research does not strive to become more inclusive with the samples and contexts in which theoretical advancements are examined, then our understanding of important relationship processes will continue to remain limited.
For relationship research to advance, the traditional barriers to publishing research employing diverse samples and contexts must be removed. This includes barriers that treat diverse samples and applications in diverse contexts as separate from foundational theory building. Additionally, the inclusion and extension of research to diverse samples needs to be thoughtful to ensure that unique insights gained by including diverse populations are not washed out. Thus, more research is needed that replicates and/or extends existing theoretical perspectives to novel populations and contexts to highlight where the existing knowledge is generalizable across contexts, and where it falls apart. These insights aimed at understanding diversity and variation will not only help advance our theoretical understanding of relationship processes, but also benefit educators who are looking to diversify their reading lists and lecture materials.
The theme for this research topic is “Diversity in Relationship Science” and we are inviting authors to submit papers that address relationship processes using a diverse lens. For this call, "diversity" is broadly construed, including—but not limited to—race, ethnicity, culture and religion, sexual orientation (i.e., LGBTQA+), gender minority groups, relationship style (i.e., polyamory, consensual non-monogamy), socioeconomic status, mental and physical health, body weight, disabled adults, single adults, relationships in older adulthood, migrant couples, as well as other underrepresented groups in relationship research or marginalized groups in society not listed above. Authors are invited to submit original empirical papers, including original research and methods articles. Systematic and theoretical reviews may be considered if they provide sufficient insights that advance our understanding of relationships in diverse populations and contexts rather than simply highlight existing gaps in our understanding.