Saint Joseph School

Panganiban Drive, Naga City 4400

The Effects of Romantic Relationship in the Academic

Performance of Students

Grade 10-Peace

MEMBERS

Yumi C. Nishiyama

Divine Macey L. Monte

Janna Kate R.Dy Pimentel

Parveen K. Gill

Francene Helaena P. Cochiaosue

 I. Introduction

Romantic relationship improve one’s self –esteem .It is through romantic

relationship that individuals are able to see their worth in the eyes of another .The inspiration that

these individual receive from their partners enable them to believe in themselves and their

capabilities .They become more confident among other people and are able to harness their

capabilities not only as distinct persons but as students as well .They are able to excel in school

through the influence of their partners .

Allows individuals to develop individuality .Having romantic relationship enables

them to see the good things among themselves .They are able to appreciate their unique identity

and accept who they are adored and appreciated for who they are not for whom they are not

.These individual could not feel envious of others and not to be insecure about themselves

because of their respective partners.

It provides the care and support partners needed from one another, partners also

serve as confidence especially in times of loneliness, and grief and despair .It is through them

that hope is felt despite of darkness. Romantic relationships strengthen individuals in the face of

challenges, problems and conflict .This also show how belongingness is significant in the lives of

people.

The belongingness Theory (Baumeister and Leary 1995) powers how individuals

have an evolved and need for closeness and social belonging. People just want to belong to

someone. It has been an inherent human need. It is through romantic relationship that individuals

feel complete and belong.

 Relationship are bound to change during the teenage years ,This may provide a

negative impact and effect in the lives of students ,especially in academic performance .It is

when depression ,anxiety ,distraction and heartache imposes a grave threat not only in the

academic performance of students but as well as their future endeavors.

Schmidt and Lockwood (2015) examined the effects of academic performance of

students who are in a romantic relationships does not affect one’s assessment and class

attendance .Logistics regressions model shows that a student involves in a romantic relationship

are more likely not to attend class .They are fixated and prioritizing their relationship such as

dating and spending for the significant other .They want to spend time with each other yet their

academic performance also needs to be prioritized too.

Sampson, Robinson and Watson (2001) examined the relationship between dating

statues and academic achievement, academic motivation, depression, and self-esteem of students

which shows how romantic relationships have an overall impact among students especially on

how they perceive their academics towards attaining a better life.

II. Definition of terms:

Romantic Relationships- An intimate relationship is one in which you can truly be yourself with

someone who you respect and are respected by in return. It is an emotional connection that can

also be physical. It does not have to be in the context of a romantic or sexual relationship.(

http://www.pamf.org/teen/abc/types/romantic.html)

Academic Performance -People often consider grades first when defining academic performance.

This includes schools, who rank students by their GPA, awarding special designations such as

valedictorian and salutatorian for those who graduate first and second in their class. Scholarship
organizations and universities also start by looking at grades, as do some employers, especially

when hiring recent graduates. (https://work.chron.com/meaning-academic-performance-

17332.html)

Academic achievement or (academic) performance- is the extent to which a student, teacher or

institution has achieved their short or long-term educational goals.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_achievement)

Prioritize- to arrange or do in order of priority

(https://www.dictionary.com/browse/prioritization?s=ts)

Mental health- Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual

realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively

and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.(

https://www.who.int/features/factfiles/mental_health/en/)

III. Body

Romantic relationships pertain to the connection between two individuals who

have a strong feeling of deep affection for one another. Romantic relationships consist of

challenging phases that partners experience which includes infatuation, reality and mature love.

Infatuation phase also known as “limerance” was a term coined by 1979 psychologist Dorothy

Tennov (Stritof, 2018).

Infatuation enables feelings of euphoria, passion and happiness. Dopamine and

norepinephrine are neurochemicals known as the “feel-good” chemicals” released by the body.

Infatuation, an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone, is common among

teenagers which they refer to as a crush. There are 2 types of crush- identity crush and romantic
crush. Identity crushes are formed by finding someone a person much admire, want to become

like, and treat as a model or leader they are eager to imitate and follow. On the other hand,

romantic crushes are formed by finding someone whom one finds powerfully attractive, feel

excited to be around, and with whom a person wants to spend a lot of time. In both cases, the

person with the crush gives enormous power of approval to the object of their crush – wanting to

be liked by them and wanting to be like them, willing to do a lot to get in the other person’s good

graces (Pickhardt, 2012).

Love and infatuation are used interchangeably by many individuals

especially the youth. The difference however is that infatuation is an attraction without

commitment and just plainly desire or feelings that causes yearning for a person. Love surpasses

definition and is best known and understood through time and experience. Love requires

commitment and sees another’s flaws and imperfections but accepts them without condition nor

judgement. Love is beyond what is felt but rather it is an act that does not have to be reciprocated

but given.

Is the youth today prepared for serious romantic relationships? Since romantic

crushes are a potential mixture of idealization and infatuation, it does not require knowing

another person well which leads to abrupt romantic relationships with corresponding positive and

negative impacts. The US-based National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add

Health), involving a representative sample of thousands of school children in Grades 7 to 12,

found that over 80 per cent of those aged 14 years and older were or had been in a romantic

relationship, including a small number (2–3 per cent) in same-sex relationships (Carver et al.,

2003; Grieger et al., 2014).

 Many of these relationships were short term, especially among younger

adolescents, but a significant number were a year or more in duration. Evidence that these

relationships were socially normative was shown by the finding that in most cases, parents had

met their child’s romantic partner and the couples had told others of their romantic status. There

is limited data on romantic relationships in other developed countries, but existing research

suggests similar percentages to the US data, although with somewhat older age groups (e.g.

Moore et al., 2012).

Adolescent romance typically begins as brief relationships in early adolescence,

progresses into sexual relationships in mid-adolescence (14–15 years) and onto more intense,

committed relationships during later adolescence (16–18 years) with over 50% of adolescents

already dated at age 15 (Price, et. al.)

A study on young love supported by the developmental-contextual theory results

suggest that concerns about the initiation of relationships are common in early adolescence,

while concerns about maintaining and repairing relationships increase with age. Relationship

breakups were the most common concern for both male and female adolescents and for all age

groups (early, mid, late adolescence). Post-relationship concerns (including breakups) were also

more likely than pre- or during-relationship concerns to be associated with concurrent mental

health issues (36.8%), self-harm (22.6%) and suicide (9.9%) (Price, et. al). Mental health issues,

self-harm and suicide risk are determined impacts of romantic relationships specifically, in the

dissolution stage of a relationship. This shows how romantic relationships negatively impact the

psychological well-being of adolescents.

Romantic involvement in adolescence, especially in early adolescence, was

associated with more depressive symptoms and behavior problems. Breakups in romantic
relationships were an important factor in producing the negative emotional and behavioral

consequences. Romantically involved girls experienced higher levels of depressive symptoms,

while romantically involved boys had higher levels of externalizing behaviors, compared to their

non-dating peers (Zhiyan et. al., 2009).

The academic performance is defined by students’ reporting of past semester

CGPA/GPA and their expected GPA for the current semester. The grade point average or GPA is

now used by most of the tertiary institutions as a convenient summary measure of the academic

performance of their students. The GPA is a better measurement as it provides a greater insight

into the relative level of performance of individuals and different groups of students (Masrom,

2015). The correlation between romantic relationships and the academic performance of students

is inevitable.

Love and Other Grades: A Study of the Effects of Romantic Relationship

Status on the Academic Performance of University Students elucidated that romantic

relationships result to high absences of students in their classes. This emphasizes the need for

time management among individuals involved in romantic relationships so as not to affect their

schooling.

A study conducted by Campble, Olivier and Sedikides (1994) found that

romantic relationships provide significant positive impacts on academic achievement. They can

bring companionship, feelings of happiness, feelings of being loved or loving another, intimacy,

self-growth and self-understanding and more positive-esteem. Romantic relationships therefore

are said to be the cause of motivation for teenagers in pursuing their studies. Level of motivation

plays a key role in a student’s academic performance and is a positive impact of romantic

relationships.
 A study from the University of Denver found that teenagers who are engaged in

romantic relationships are likely to experience emotional problems such as anxiety and

depression (Scott, 2015). Worrying about looks, their partner’s affection towards them and

impressing their partners creates a feeling of anxiety. Distraction is also evident when partners

are in the same class (Mwaura, 2012). Regarding the distractions, Laflamme claimed that when

people are in love, they simply cannot concentrate on anything but only thinking about their

lovers (Lannarone, 2014). Rather than paying attention to their teachers, some teenagers turned

out to be texting their partners during class time, and their level of anxiety even increased when

they had conflicts with their partner (Baleros, n.d.). Based on the same article posted by

Lannarone (2014), higher anxiety happens once again in a more serious way when it comes to a

break-up. Motivation to study or even go to school is lost, and their performance of course

declines. A study conducted by Kopfler (2003) also pointed out that “students who were

involved in romantic relationships would not perform well in undergraduate course works.” He

argued that students involved in relationship are forced to manage their time by facing higher

stress levels than who are not in a romantic relationship (Kopfler, 2003). Time management was

not only the negative impact evident caused by romantic relationships in student’s academic

performance but also increased anxiety levels, loss of motivation and stress.

Parental consent is significant towards a developmental stage in an adolescent’s life

towards embracing the self and others as well as welcoming new chapters in one’s life. Romantic

relationships serve as learning experiences among individuals but with the proper guidance,

support and intervention of parents, adolescents will be able to make wiser decisions ahead and

be able to address their problems through openness towards their parents. Behaviors and ground

rules must still be emphasized as adolescents still need parental supervision in many matters.
Talking about teenage relationships with one’s children will allow him or her to be confident to

talk about the matter. It is also important for parents to set a good example to their children when

it comes to romantic relationships and one’s partners. As they seek to discover the meaning of

love and create ideas and form understanding as to how couples in relationships should be like,

respect and genuine love must be evident for them to follow such. Conversations about sex and

relationships will allow one’s child to ask questions especially that experiment with sexual

behavior at some stage occurs, it is best for them to become knowledgeable about such matters

as well as know the necessary actions in given circumstances. Adolescents may not be prepared

for commitments and romantic relationships given their abrupt and impulsive emotions and

behaviors and so parental advice must be present. It is better to guide them along the way rather

than guide them when it is too late. This is when active listening is important. Difficulties and

disappointments especially heartbreaks exist and so parents are much needed in these

circumstances more than ever.

Beginning romantic relationships is a major part of growing up. It can be

uncomfortable for some parents to come to terms with their child dating. It’s normal to feel

scared, worried or sometimes sad about it. Teenage relationships come naturally with

adolescence. Discouraging them does not always work as it is a natural stage in their lives. The

best thing that parents can do is to show their support and not be dismissive towards their child.

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