Researching Romance

Psychology researcher Allison Fortman ’25 is spending her summer studying how changes to the self can affect romantic relationships.

Fortman is conducting research this summer through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, one of Trinity’s many commitments to hands-on opportunities that give students the chance to experience their fields outside of the classroom.

A psychology and business double major who transferred to Trinity University from Rice University, Fortman says this project, “Relationship-Induced Self-Concept Change in Risk Regulation Theory,” is a perfect fit for her next step after graduating in December, as she applies to grad schools with Marriage and Family Therapy programs.

And Fortman appreciates the chances Trinity has given her to research an area she cares about.

“I had opportunities to research at Rice, but it wasn't what I was interested in. The big benefit here at Trinity is that there's so much openness—we have a lot of autonomy in the lab,” she says. “And seeing how passionate everyone else at Trinity is about research, I would say that the environment here creates more interest than I might've otherwise had.”

Partnering with psychology professor Kevin McIntyre, Ph.D., Fortman has been sifting through 310 surveys gathered from participants in romantic relationships. Each participant was randomly assigned to write about a time their partner changed them for the better, for the worse, or a neutral event. After writing, participants completed questionnaires measuring emotional connection, self-protection, self-esteem, and relationship quality.

“Our goal is to find out whether the ways a romantic relationship changes your self-concept for the better or worse will influence your willingness to either connect with your partner or self-protect from vulnerability,” Fortman says. “The biggest trend is that self-protection and self-degradation seem to be most strongly related to one another.”

Fortman has enjoyed a good level of autonomy working with McIntyre, but she also points out that this freedom is also paired with hands-on, personalized attention: the best of both worlds.

“Dr. McIntyre was super approachable and easy to talk to just from the beginning. And then as we started this research, he's been very flexible as well,” Fortman says. “And at Trinity, when you take initiative and go out of your way to connect with professors, they always want to be there for you.”

And that goes for all the faculty Fortman has experienced at Trinity.

“No matter if it's a harder professor, it’s never scary to approach professors here. Ultimately, when you give them a chance to get to know you by going into their office hours, it's a really great experience,” she says. “I'm close with basically all the professors that I've taken a class with. I don't think there are any that I've taken a class with, that if I saw them, I wouldn't stop and talk to them.”

Stay tuned for updates to Fortman’s work at the upcoming Undergraduate Research Symposium in late July!