Case Study
In this case study (PSYC FPX 3520 Assessment 4), Susan, an online college student, is deep into her studies at her favorite coffee shop when she is approached by Mark, a friendly stranger. Mark introduces himself and extends an invitation to a party he organizes with his friend Joe. Susan decides to accept Mark’s offer, feeling excited and recognizing she hasn’t been sociable in a long time. This meeting provided a rare moment of creativity and social connection for Susan, who had previously been preoccupied with her academic commitments.
Susan enjoys the company of Mark and his friends, who are friendly and accepting. Even though she has just recently met them, she strives to be polite and engaged. However, as the night progresses, Susan suspects that Mark is mistaking her warmth and friendliness for love affection. She resolves to socialize more with the other guests rather than leading him on or causing any misunderstandings. At the end of the evening, she thanks Mark for the invitation, accepts his Facebook friend request, and takes a taxi home, intending to continue a polite relationship but setting clear limits.
PSYC FPX 3520 Assessment 4: Susan checks her Facebook a few days later and discovers that Mark has been writing every day, expressing his love for her. Susan recognizes that Mark has misunderstandings about their interactions at the party and believes they are in a relationship, so she has to clarify the issue. Because Mark’s posts are public, she determines that a public response is required to be accurate without offending him.
Taking Mark’s point of view into account, she responds by stating that she enjoyed the party and their time together but gently highlights that they had just recently met and establishes clear limits for any future relationships. Susan chooses to unfriend him on Facebook to make her viewpoint clear and avoid any additional misunderstandings.
This case study (PSYC FPX 3520 Assessment 4) addresses Susan and Mark’s interactions, showing the social psychology concept of unrequited love. According to Baumeister and Bushman (2020), unrequited love is a situation in which one person has strong sentiments of love or affection but the other does not return them. They point out that the feelings and experiences of both people in such situations could differ substantially.
According to Baumeister et al. (1993), unrequited love means emotional interdependence, which means that one person’s behaviors have a considerable impact on the other’s emotional state. While the rejected person frequently experiences a complex range of emotions and can eventually reflect on the experience with mixed feelings, the person who rejects frequently views the entire situation negatively, wishing it had never happened in the first place (Baumeister & Bushman, 2020; Baumeister et al., 1993).
Related Assessment:
PSYC FPX 3520 Assessment 3 Thinking, Feeling, and Believing
Research Summary
The first study by Baumeister et al. (1993) focused on the dynamics of unrequited love, specifically investigating the feelings and behaviors of persons who become the target of another’s undesired affection. To carry out this study, the researchers collected autobiographical stories and employed questionnaires to investigate these events. The research included 155 university students, mostly in their mid-20s, but some were older, and enrolled in advanced psychology courses.
In the first research, 71 participants were instructed to write two personal stories, one from the standpoint of a rejecter and the other from the perspective of a potential lover. In the second research, 84 students took a self-esteem assessment (PSYC FPX 3520 Assessment 4) before being allocated at random to write about a situation as either a rejecter or a would-be lover. They then scored their experiences on a 15-point scale, assessing their emotional reactions and the significance of these situations.
The findings showed that an individual’s role—whether as a rejecter or a would-be lover—has a major impact on how they perceive, recall, and understand the situation, thus affecting both their feelings and outcomes. Baumeister et al. found that rejected partners are more self-centered, focused on their goals, and occasionally ignore indications of rejection or misinterpreting ambiguous gestures as signs of devotion. On the other hand, Rejecters are frequently put in a difficult situation because they do not want to increase love desire while still avoiding inflicting harm. As a result, rejecters are more likely to experience negative emotions such as r
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