CONSENT  FORM

1)       Title of Research Study: Relationships with Siblings III

2)       Investigators: Richard Michalski (Principal Investigator), Elisabeth King (Secondary Investigator)

3)       Purpose: The purpose of this study is to collect information about reactions to various types of infidelities.

4)       Procedures: To participate in the current study you must be 18 years of age or older. Participation is completely voluntary. Participants will be recruited online. Participants will be asked to complete the survey at home and in private. Participants will complete a survey about various aspects of a partner’s infidelities, a sister’s infidelities, and a brother’s infidelities. This survey will take about 45 minutes to complete. The survey includes personal questions. One example of a personal question includes: “How upset would you be if you discovered that your partner had sexual intercourse with another person, but you were certain that they would not form a deep emotional attachment to that other person?” For this question, participants respond on a scale from 0 (Not at all upset) to 7 (Unbearably upset) indicating how upset they would be over their partner’s infidelity. Participants completing the survey online will be asked to read and accept an online consent form before beginning the survey and if participating for extra credit in a course, will be asked to print out the confirmation page at the end of the procedure.

5)       Risks: Some of the questions may cause emotional upset. If your participation causes you upset you may elect not to answer any question in the survey for any reason.

6)       Benefits: The purpose of this research is to acquire scientific knowledge about jealousy. The current study expands on the literature on jealousy by examining its expression over a sibling’s infidelities. This study will add to this literature and can help clinicians treating clients seeking help for jealousy. Clinicians trained to incorporate knowledge gained through this study and others into treatment programs may be able to better identify potentially dangerous situations for their clients.

7)       Data Collection & Storage: All information provided will be kept confidential. All research materials are assigned a confidential number for coding purposes. Information collected in the surveys will be kept separate and in locked locations accessible only to the Researchers. Results will not be released or reported in any way that might allow for identification of individual participants. All information will be kept confidential, unless otherwise required by law. 

8)       Contact Information: For other questions about the study, you should call the Principal Investigator, Richard Michalski, at (540) 362-6586 or through email at rmichalski@hollins.edu.

9)       Consent Statement: I have read or had read to me the preceding information describing this study. All my questions have been answered to my satisfaction. I am 18 years of age or older and freely consent to participate. I understand that I am free to withdraw from the study at any time.