Meaning of respect in romantic relationships among low-income African American adolescents

Respect is considered an important quality in successful romantic relationships. To date, however, there has been limited attention to the meaning of respect in romantic relationships. The purpose of this article is to report on the meaning of respect in romantic relationships as conceptualized by low-income African-American adolescents during focused interviews. Participants were recruited through local youth serving community-based agencies in two metropolitan areas. Inclusion criteria were: being African American, heterosexually oriented, and between the ages of 15-17 (N = 52). Qualitative analysis consisting of an iterative process of thematic data analysis that incorporated both inductive and deductive approaches was used to analyze interview transcripts for the meaning of respect in romantic relationships. Results revealed that meanings of respect could be divided into three broad categories (1) Demonstrating respect within the dyad through engaging in positive behavior; (2) Demonstrating respect within the dyad through not engaging in negative behavior; and (3) Demonstrating respect through interacting with the community. Participant responses reveal the complex nature of respect that often manifests itself in different forms across a variety of domains and contexts. A better understanding of the meaning of respect within romantic relationships in at-risk populations could lead to creating successful interventions designed to increase communication between partners about safer sex behaviors, and reduce dating violence. Applying the results of our work which highlights a positive aspect of romantic relationships could utilize a more strengths-based perspective when designing or framing violence prevention and sexual health programs.