You are invited to participate in a study that will investigate your experiences with relational maintenance and love languages. Results will be used to gain a better understanding of how individuals utilize Facebook to keep up with friends with benefits relationships, and how these specific types of relationships are related to love and attachment styles. 

Participation in this study should take about 20 minutes of your time. Participation will involve completing an online survey where you will respond to questions about ways in which you have communicated with individuals whom you have been in a friend with benefits relationship with. Participation in this project is strictly voluntary.

The risks associated with this project are minimal. If, however, you experience discomfort you may discontinue the survey at anytime. If you feel upset as a result of taking the survey, you may contact the University of Denver’s Health and Counseling Services Center at (303) 871-2205 to schedule an appointment or to ask for a referral. We respect your right to choose not to answer any questions that may make you feel uncomfortable. Refusal to participate or withdrawal from participation involves no penalty or loss.

This study is designed to help researchers learn more about relational maintenance and how social networking sites such as Facebook function to help individuals continue and maintain their relationships. While you may not directly benefit from participation in this study, your responses will provide insight into the connection between maintenance and attachment styles, and relational experiences, which in may allow us to understand more about the nuances of relationships in the 21st century.You will not receive monetary payment for being in this study.You will not be expected to pay any costs related to the study.

Your responses will be anonymous. You will not be asked to include any information on the survey that identifies you or your relational partner. In the case that you provided a name in your description of the relationship, we will change the name to a pseudonym bearing no similarity to the original name in any write-up of the results. Only the researchers will have access to your individual data.

The results from the research may be shared at a meeting, a national conference, or may be in published articles. However, your individual identity will be kept private when information is presented or published. Should any information contained in this study be subject to a court order or lawful subpoena, the University of Denver might not be able to avoid compliance with the order or subpoena. Although no questions in this survey address it, we are required by law to tell you that if information is revealed concerning suicide, homicide, or child abuse and neglect, we are required by law to report this to the proper authorities.

Participating in this study is completely voluntary. Even if you decide to participate now, you may change your mind and stop at any time without consequence.

Veronica Droser is completing this research under the supervision of Dr. Erin K Willer of the Communication Studies Department at the University of Denver. She can be contacted at vdroser@du.edu. If you have any concerns or complaints about how you were treated during this study, please contact Paul Olk, Chair, Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects, at (303) 871-4531, of you may email du-irb@du.edu, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs or call (303) 871-4050 or write to either at the University of Denver, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208.

You may keep this page for your records. Please click “I agree” if you understand and agree to the above. If you do not understand any part of the above statement, please ask the researcher any questions you may have. 

I have read and understood the foregoing description of the study. I have asked for and received a satisfactory explanation of any language that I did not fully understand. I agree to participate in this study, and I understand that I may withdraw my consent at any time.