Running Head: INQUIRY ESSAY

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Inquiry Essay
Jacob L. Auby
California State University Chico
November 14th, 2014

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Introduction: Relationship. It can be defined from the Merriam Websters dictionary that
a relationship is the way in which two or more people, groups, countries, etc., talk to,
behave toward, and deal with each other. An example of a relationship could be: an old
friend youve grown up with throughout your lives, a romantic partner or a casual
encounter with someone you are standing in line with at a coffee shop. These
interpersonal relationships must have an effect on our well-being. Through the paper
hopefully I will be able to enlighten you on the problems and benefits on relationships.
Thesis Statement: Relationships have an effect on our daily lives; it can effect ones
happiness, decrease or increase our stress levels and improve our health.
1) Main Point
a) Relationships effect our daily lives
Romantic relationships are all around us. Go to a local park or coffee shop and
you will be almost guaranteed to see a couple together in public. According to Demir in
2008, college students report that their closet personal relationships to be that of
romantic ones. Furthermore, in this stage in our lives, relationships are deeper and less
centered towards fun and companionship which is what relationships were about in our
adolescent years (Demir, 2008). College is the perfect environment for college students
to explore different relationships with people since we are meeting new people every
day and for the first time in our lives, living so closely with our peers.
2) Main Point
a) Relationships affect Happiness
b) (Demir, 2008)

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Happiness is an important aspect to everyones lives. In fact according to The

Worlds Happiness Report in 2012, people value happiness the most when asked what
aspects of life are most important to you (Heliwell, 2012). Since people put such a great
importance on happiness, then for a relationship to be a good one, one must be happy
in the relationship. A relationship should solidify happiness and make sure that it is less
likely to go away. Having that person with you that is willing to hold an umbrella over
your head when it rains or hold the door open for you is what being in a relationship is
all about. Respect. If you can respect one another you can be happy. But if two people
dont have it in them to respect one another, how are they supposed to be happy?
3) Main Point
a) Relationships and Stress Levels
b) (Stanton, 2014)

4) How shyness effects relationship quality in young adults.

For people just graduating high school a lot of experimenting goes on. People
often experiment with things like careers, majors, friends and relationships. If someone
that had a shy nature, wouldnt it be harder to make new friends/ romantic partners?
The answer is yes. People that are shy have trouble making new friends and pursing
romantic partners. This goes back to the idea of stress within relationships. It has been
noticed that people that are shy develop stress when put into social situations. It is not
that these types of people do not want to pursue romantic relationships, because of
their anxiety in social situations, it limits them when interacting with people. It has been

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reported according to a report published by US Educational Publishing foundation in

2013 that people that are reportedly shy have lower relationship quality than people that
are outgoing and have a social personality. There is further information in the report
saying that people that are shy have a trend to have a more negative relationship style.
Some of these styles could include anxious or avoidant (where one partner will desire
the other but are too shy to talk to him or her). This can lead to many relationship
problems including breaking up or awkwardness when together.
I have not found any data on this but I feel that people that are shy probably end
up settling with a romantic partner because of social pressure and end up settling with
the first fish that bites the hook so to say.
5) Main Point
a) Relationships and Health
b) (Berge, 2014)
Relationships have shown to have a positive impact on physical and mental health
between married couples that are older, but what about with emerging adults. Do
emerging adults exhibit healthier patterns when they are in a relationship/ not in one?
This is an important question to ask because it could be used to find the sources of
things like obesity and other physical health related diseases. In a 10 year study called
project EAT. Researched the following question: Do young adults in various committed
relationships (committed dating/engaged, married) report different dietary intake,
physical activity habits, and weight status than young adults who are single? (Berge,
2014).

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The study tracks almost 2,000 people over a span of 10 years and focuses on
various aspects of their daily lives. Later in the report it talks about how men that are
single tend to have a 25% higher chance of being overweight than those who are in a
relationship. In women however, no correlation was made. But one other observation
that was made is that women in relationships have a much higher rate of eating
breakfast than women who are single. This is an important finding because it has been
found in previous studies that women tend to skip breakfast a lot and this is a cause of
obesity. From the findings of this research we can conclude that relationships do have a
positive effect on your health and it can be proved by science.

6) Conclusion
Our daily lives involve relationships whether we like it or not. Relationships exist
all around us and we need to find a way to make them positive and beneficial to our
lives. It has been shown that being in a committed relationship can better your wellbeing as well as make us happier. This goes to show the benefits human interpersonal
connections have on our society. Dont lock yourself away in your room all day, go out
and meet people, make some new friends. Who knows, maybe one of them will be your
husband/wife someday.

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References
Berge, J. M., Bauer, K. W., MacLehose, R., Eisenberg, M. E., & Neumark-Sztainer, D.
(2014). Associations between relationship status and day-to-day health
behaviors and weight among diverse young adults. Families, Systems, & Health,
32(1), 67-77. doi:10.1037/fsh0000002
http://mantis.csuchico.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=pdh&AN=2014-00783-001&site=eds-live
Demir, M. (2008). Sweetheart, you really make me happy: romantic relationship quality
and personality as predictors of happiness among emerging adults. Journal Of
Happiness Studies, 9(2), 257-277. doi:10.1007/s10902-007-9051-8
http://mantis.csuchico.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=aph&AN=31722564&site=eds-live
Heliwell, J. (2012, July 17). World Happiness Report. Columbia University. Retrieved
November 14, 2014, from http://www.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/Sachs
Writing/2012/World Happiness Report.pdf
Relationship. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2014, from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/relationship

Rowsell, H. C., & Coplan, R. J. (2013). Exploring links between shyness, romantic
relationship quality, and well-being. Canadian Journal Of Behavioural
Science/Revue Canadienne Des Sciences Du Comportement, 45(4), 287-295.
doi:10.1037/a0029853
http://mantis.csuchico.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=pdh&AN=2012-24947-001&site=eds-live
Stanton, S. E., Campbell, L., & Loving, T. J. (2014). Energized by love: Thinking about
romantic relationships increases positive affect and blood glucose levels.
Psychophysiology, 51(10), 990-995.
http://mantis.csuchico.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=sph&AN=98197531&site=eds-live