After completing the readings, please write a 1-page single-spaced piece on where you think the research should go next. If the assigned articles conflict with one another, how might we be able to reconcile the conflicting evidence? What additional evidence do you think could be collected that would move the field forward? Perhaps you think we’re asking the wrong questions entirely, and that the whole discussion should be shifted in some way. Maybe you think there’s another field or discipline that could be brought in to inform the research. Or, maybe you think that the area of research is plagued by an important methodological problem that needs to be dealt with before the relevant questions can be answered. Your ideas do not need to be fully formed in this write-up; they will merely serve as a jumping-off point for our discussions.

Spielmann, S. S., Joel, S., MacDonald, G., & Kogan, A. (2012). Ex appeal: Current relationship quality and emotional attachment to ex-partners. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4, 175-180.

Maner, J. K., Rouby, D. A., & Gonzaga, G. C. (2008). Automatic inattention to attractive alternatives: The evolved psychology of relationship maintenance. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29, 343-349.

Yes, multiple romantic relationships can co-exist independently:

Mitchell, M. E., Bartholemew, K., & Cobb, R. J. (2014). Need fulfillment in polyamorous relationships. Journal of Sex Research, 51, 329-339