Thinking styles and parental relationship as predictors of implicit theories of relationships

ENThe study explored the relationship between young adults’ thinking styles, parental marriage relationship and implicit theories of relationships. 394 university students from 6 Lithuanian universities filled out Thinking Styles Inventory (TSI-R2) (Sternberg, Wagner, & Zhang, 2007), Implicit Theories of Relationship Scale (ITR) (Knee, et al., 2003), and a Parents’ Marriage Characteristics Measure (Hall, 2003). The study found predictors of growth and destiny implicit theories of relationships among thinking styles and parental marriage characteristics. Parental marriage characteristics had lower-than-expected predictive power as well as lower predictive power than thinking styles. The results provide insight into the development of implicit theories of relationships within the Social-Cognitive and Mental Self-Government frameworks as well as implications for research, counseling, and education on relationships.