Initiating, maintaining and terminating a romantic relationship during emerging adulthood in Turkey

The current study aims to understand the romantic experiences of Turkish emerging adults from a cultural perspective. Culture and society play an important role in the lives and romantic experiences of emerging adults. More specifically, the present study addressed the criteria for partner selection and the initiating, maintaining and terminating the romantic relationships among Turkish emerging adults. Consensual qualitative research (CQR) was used as the research method. Participants of the study were selected via purposive sampling. The participants of the study were 25 emerging adults (12 female and 13 male) whose ages range between 19 and 26 years. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted in order to collect data. Data analysis revealed several categories within four domains of romantic experiences. The first domain, namely partner choice involved eight categories. Second domain, namely initiating a romantic relationship involved four categories. The third domain, namely maintaining a romantic relationship involved five categories. Final domain, namely termination of a romantic relationship involved three categories. The results of this study suggest that emerging adults consider various personal, relational and cultural factors in each stage of their romantic relationships