Rachele Mazzini

Rachele Mazzini

PhD Student

PhD candidate in Psychology at the University of Copenhagen since February 2023, passionate about human close relationships and cross-cultural differences.

Primary fields of research

  • Dishonesty, deception, and cheating behaviour
  • Interpersonal, close, and romantic relationships
  • Personality and individual differences
  • Socio-cultural psychology: (ethnic) discrimination, intercultural transition, migration, cross-cultural adaptation

Current research

Have you ever wondered why people lie to, keep secrets from, or cheat on their partner? What information we believe our partners are better off knowing? In what ways can dishonest behaviour affect and potentially harm your romantic relationship? And lastly, are some people more prone to being dishonest than others?

 

My PhD project focuses on dishonesty in romantic relationship, a topic that has been often overlooked within the Relationship Science field. Broadly, by following a mixed-method approach, we aim at creating a novel categorization of the different forms that dishonesty can take in intimate relationships. Furthermore, we aim at examining the effect that different forms of dishonesty may exert on key relationship quality indicators, its connections with personality, as well as developing a brand new tool that researcher can use to systematically measure dishonesty in intimate relationships.

To investigate dishonesty in close relationships, we will pursue the following steps:

  1. An in-depth, large-scale qualitative analysis to understand the nature, experiences, antecedents, correlates, and consequences of dishonesty in romantic relationships. From such analysis, we will (a) create a novel categorization of different form of dishonesty and (b) identify key relationship quality indicators that may be affected by dishonesty.
  2. The development of a brand new scale that measures dishonesty in romantic relationships and captures the differences between the various forms of dishonesty. This will serve as a tool for researchers to measure dishonest behaviour in romantic relationships.
  3. An empirical examination (both correlational and experimental) of the impact that dishonesty may have on relationship outcomes and good life indicators, as well as the connection between dishonesty and personality.
  4. The investigation of dyadic covariation in relational dishonesty, via the application of quasi-signal detection models.

Teaching

Elective course - Dating, Mating, and Close Relationships - 2023/2024 (ku.dk)

ID: 334150152