Title of Project:	Your Past and Current Romantic Partners (Online Component)

Student Investigator:	Jennifer Ignacz, Undergraduate Student, Department of Psychology, jignacz@uwaterloo.ca

Student Investigator:	Justin Cavallo, Graduate Student, Department of Psychology, jvcavall@uwaterloo.ca

Faculty Supervisor:	Dr. John Holmes, University of Waterloo, Department of Psychology, jholmes@uwaterloo.ca

You are invited to participate in a study designed to investigate various aspects of people’s dating history, including information about their past and current relationship partners. We are interested in discovering how undergraduates in exclusive dating relationships describe and view their prior relationship experiences. This study is part of our ongoing investigation into how prior dating experiences is related to subsequent romantic relationships.

This is the online component of the study. As a participant in this study, you will be asked to complete a short online questionnaire about your personality and your current romantic relationship (e.g., how long you and your partner have been together, etc.). You must complete this questionnaire prior to coming into the lab for the session you signed up for on SONA.

Participation in this portion of the study (and the study in general) is voluntary, and will take approximately 2 minutes of your time. By volunteering for this study, you will learn about research in Social Psychology in general and the topic of this study in particular. Upon completion of this portion in addition to the subsequent lab portion, you will receive a detailed Feedback Letter about the study and, in appreciation of your time, 0.5 credits toward your psychology course. There are no known or anticipated risks associated with participating in this study. You may decline to answer any questions presented during the study if you so wish. Further, you may decide to withdraw from this study at any time by advising the researcher, and may do so without penalty.

All information you provide is considered completely confidential. Furthermore, because the interest of this study is in the average responses of the entire group of participants, data will be reported in aggregate form only. The questionnaire is programmed to collect your responses only, and will not collect any information that might identify you (i.e. machine identifiers). If you begin the questionnaire and decide not to complete it, your previous responses will not be transmitted to the researchers. Data collected during this study will be retained indefinitely, on a secure server and in a locked office in a restricted access area of the Psychology Department (PAS building). Only authorized researchers associated with this study will have access to this area.

If you have any questions about the study please contact the investigators at the email addresses noted above. I would like to assure you that this study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through the Office of Research Ethics at the University of Waterloo. However, the final decision about participation is yours. If you have any comments or concerns resulting from your participation in this study, please contact Dr. Susan Sykes at this office at (519) 888-4567 Ext. 36005 or ssykes@uwaterloo.ca.

Thank you for your assistance with this project.

I agree to participate in the study being conducted by Jennifer Ignacz and Justin Cavallo, under the supervision of Dr. John Holmes of the Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo. I have made this decision based on the information I have read in the Information-Consent Letter and have had the opportunity to receive any additional details I wanted about the study. I understand that I may withdraw this consent at any time by closing my web browser or e-mailing the researcher, without penalty or loss of participation credit.

I also understand that this project has been reviewed by, and received ethics clearance through, the Office of Research Ethics at the University of Waterloo, and that I may contact Dr. Susan Sykes at (519) 888-4567, Ext. 36005 or ssykes@uwaterloo.ca if I have any concerns or comments resulting from my involvement in the study.

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