EFFECTS OF ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS TO ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA SABAH MALAYSIA

BY:

IMELDA ALBERT GISIP CYNTHIA ANNAMARIA ROBERT DAWAYAN JASMINE @ JUSPIN DAVID

MARCH 2011

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Contents
1.

2. 3. 4.

5. 6.

Letter of Report Submission Letter of Offer (Research Grant) Acknowledgements '" Report 4.1 Executive Summary 4.2 Introduction 4.3 Literature Review 4.4 Methodology 4.5 Results and Discussion 4.6 Conclusion and Recommendation 4.7 References/Bibiliography Research Outcomes '" Appendix '"

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'" '"

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Tarikh No. Fail Projek

28 Februari 2011 600-RMI/SSP/DANA5/3/DSP (32/2009)

Penolong Naib Canselor (Penyelidikan) Institut Pengurusan Penyelidikan (RMI) Universiti Teknologi MARA 40450 Shah Alam

Ybhg. Prof.,

LAPORAN AKHIR PENYELIDIKAN "EFFECTS OF ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP TO ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE"
Dengan segala hormatnya perhatian Ybhg. Prof adalah dirujuk kepada perkara di atas. Bersama-sama ini disertakan 2 (dua) naskah Laporan Akhir Penyelidikan beserta CD bertajuk di atas untuk perhatian dan tindakan RMI yang selanjutnya. Sekian terima kasih.

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. ~=
~

MARA

Surat Kami Tarikh

60D-RMI/SSP/DANA 5/3/Dsp (32/2009)

6 Mac 2009

Imelda Albert Gisip Ketua Projek Fakulti Pengurusan Perniagaan UiTM Cawangan Sabah Kampus Kota Kinabalu Beg Berkunci 71 88997 Kota Kinabalu SA BAH Cynthia Annamaria Robert Dawayan Ahli Projek Fakulti Pengurusan Perniagaan UiTM Cawangan Sabah Kampus Kota Kinabalu Beg aerkunci 71 88997 Kota Kinabalu SABAH Jasmine @ Juspin David Ahli Projek Fakulti Perakaunan UiTM Cawangan Sabah Kampus Kota Kinabalu Beg Berkunci 71 88997 Kota Kinabalu SABAH " Tuan/Puan,

TAJUK PROJEK PENYElIDIKAN DANA KECEMERLANGAN: EFFECTS OF ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Dengan hormatnya perkara di atas adalah dirujuk. Sukacita dimaklumkan Institut Pengurusan P~nye!idika~ {P.N:!) telah rneiuiuskan ca\.igllyan penyei idikan yang telah dikemukakan oleh tuanlpuan bertajuk di atas dengan syarat-syarat seperti berikut:

i.

Tempoh projek penyelidikan ini ialah 1 tahun, iaitu bermula 15 Mac 2009 hingga 15 Mac 2010. Tuan/Puan dinas ihatkan untuk membuat pembetulan proposal penyelidikan seperti yang dicadangkan oleh panel penilai (sila /ihat /ampiran peni/ai yang disertakan) Kos y'ang diluluskan ialah sebanyak RM3,000.00 sahaja dalam (Kategori C). Tuan/Puan dim inta mengemukakan proposal beserta bajet yang baru mengikut kos yang diluluskan sebelum tuan/puan memulakan projek penyelidikan tuan/puan.
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iv.

Pembelian peralatan dibenarkan.

komputer/printer/PDNalat

multimedia

adalah

tidak

v.

Semua pembelian bahan/peralatan adalah diminta agar tuan/puan mematuhi prosedur perbendaharaan di mana pembelian melebihi RM500.00 hendaklah mengemukakan sebutharga dan borang analisa harga. Pihak tuan/puan dikehendaki mengemukakan laporan prestasi secara ringkas pada setiap enam (6) bulan sepanjang tempoh penyelidikan tuan/puan berjalan. Tuan/Puan perlu menandatangani Borang Perjanjian Penyelidikan dengan kadar segera kerana penggunaan geran hanya akan dibenarkan setelah perjanjian ditandatangani.
LAPORAN AKHIR perlu dihantar sebaik sahaja projek penyelidikan TAMAT dan format menulis laporan akhir boleh diperolehi di laman web RMI, UiTM Shah Alam. (http://www.rmi.uitm.edu.my)

iv

v.

vi.

Sekian, harap maklum. Terima kasih.
'SELAMAT MENJALANKAN PENYELIDIKAN'

PRO . DR. AZNI ZAIN AHMED Pen long Naib Canselor (Penyelidikan)

1.

Pengarah Kampus UiTM Cawangan Sabah Kampus Kota Kinabalu Beg Berkunci 71 88997 Kota Kinabalu SABAH Encik Abdul Kadir Rosline @ Haji Ruslim Timbalan Pengarah Kampus (Penyelidikan & Jaringan Industri) UiTM Cawangan Sabah Kampus Kota Kinabalu Beg Berkunci 71 88997 Kota Kinabalu SABAH Dr Sabarinah Sh Ahmad Ketua Penyelidikan (Sains Sosial & Pengurusan) Institut Pengurusan Penyelidikan (RMI) Puan Rosnani Abdul Razak Penolong Bendahari Unit Kewangan Zon 17 (Penyelidikan) (untuk makluman dan tindakan puan untuk memindahkan peruntukan ke UiTM Cawangan Sabah)

2.

3.

4.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank our colleagues for their valuable insights and who have been continuous sources of support when frustrations were high and the goal of completion seemed out of reach, and waned is importance. We have also benefited greatly from respondents who had been very cooperative in answering the questionnaires and willing to be interviewed. We are also pleased to acknowledge Dr Haji Abdul Kadir Rosline, UiTM Sabah Campus Director and Puan Rozita Uji Mohammed, Deputy Campus Director, Sahagian Penyelidikan
& Jaringan Industri PJI , UiTM Sabah for their tremendous support and assistance during

implementation of this project. We are personally indebted to our families who have contributed a great deal of support and understanding in completion of this report. Although it is impossible to mention everyone who had assist us but it is our greatest pleasure to acknowledge those who had been involved directly and indirectly in the preparation of this report. Finally, we hope that this research would benefit readers and thank you once again to all that have contributed to the completion of this report, for without them this would have not been possible.

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4 Report
4.1 Executive Summary
The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of romantic relationships on students' academic performance in university. Besides that, the study determines gender differences in placing importance on academic achievement versus romantic relationships. In addition, the study also determines both dating and involvement in romantic relationships will result in a lower GPA. The academic performance of the student in this study is measured by the current GPA. In this study - having romantic relationship, supportive partner and time management are used as dependent variables for students' performance. A questionnaire had been developed after identifying all the variables to be studied and to be correlated to their GPA. The results of the study shows romantic relationships have a significant effect on the academic performance for male students. Key words: academic performance, romantic relationships, gender, supportive partner and university students.

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4.2

Introduction
Romantic relationships become increasingly significant in the lives of young

people as they shift from early (ages 10-14) to late adolescence (ages 15-19). Although dating will not start in early adolescence, most of these young people are very preoccupied with romantic issues. They spend significant amounts of time in mixed-gender groups that deepen their romantic interest and may eventually lead to romantic relationships (Connolly, Craig, Goldberg, & Pepler, 2004). It is then inevitable for young people to fall in love and be drawn in a romantic relationship throughout their adolescence. Being in love may be considered as part of the growing process, where most of these young people will be going in and out of relationships simply to experience the feeling of loving and being loved. A survey carried out by Liz Claiborne reported that three-fourths of teens age 16-18 report having had a relationship or dated with someone and half of these youth have had a serious boyfriend or girlfriend (Teenage Research Unlimited, 2006). When involved in a relationship, these teenagers usually would spend much of their time with their partner, leaving little time left for other things such as studying, family and friends.

As these young people go beyond the age of 18 they would have to leave their homes for university. Here they are challenged to adept to new environment, new people, where they have to adept to increased responsibilities and maintaining their academic achievement. This will be the time when these young people start to seek for companionship to be with them and motivate them to undergo this trying time as a university student. Some of them may form many relationships with other students but others will result to forming a romantic kind of relationship with that special person. These relationships may help them cope with the drastic changes that they have to face in university. Being in a romantic relationship usually will mean that two people spending most of their time together where they do almost everything possible together. When one is lucky he or she will have a supportive and understanding partner, who will encourage the other partner to strive hard for academic achievement and may also strive together towards achieving the same purpose. For some who are a bit unlucky, he or she may have to face with a partner who is less understanding and less supportive. This means the partner would take up most of the other partners' time off from studying and focusing on academic activities.

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4.2.1

Problem Statement

Romantic relationships are of particular importance to young people, and play a key role in the transition from adolescence to adulthood. The stage of late adolescence or early adulthood are also known as the crucial period for gaining romantic experience. In this stage, most of these young people would still be studying and this is also the time when this young people spend quite a considerable amount of time talking about, thinking about and being in a romantic relationship (Furman, 2002). Based on this scenario these young people may be facing conflict of interest on how they can balance their time between studying or spending time with their partner. If one are able to manage their time well and have a supportive partner, then one may not be facing much problems. It would be somehow problematic when one does not know how to manage divide their time between studying and spending time with their partner. It could be worsen when the partner is not a supportive one. This is when they might see their grades going from good to worst and if no corrective actions taken, might even lead to bigger problems ie. not manage to complete studies due to inability to concentrate on studies and passing their exams. Therefore, it would be imperative to find out whether there would be any effects of romantic relationships on the academic performance of students, particularly in Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Sabah.

4.2.2

Objectives Of The Study

•

To determine the effects of romantic relationships on students' academic performance in university;

•

To determine gender differences in placing importance on academic achievement versus romantic relationships;

•

To determine whether dating and involvement in romantic relationships will result in a lower CGPA.

4.2.3

Research Question

•

What are the effects of romantic relationships on students' academic performance in university?

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•

Are there any gender differences in placing importance on academic achievement versus romantic relationships?

•

Will dating and involvement in romantic relationships result to a lower CGPA among the students?

4.2.4

Significance of Study This study will be important in revealing the current dating situation among

students of UiTM Sabah. The results may also assist lecturers, counselors as well as management of UiTM Sabah to better understand the students thus, making the necessary programs in helping these students, who may have problems in handling their romantic relationships. Apart from that, the findings of this research will also be able to make the students realize the level of commitment that they make towards their romantic relationship as well as their academic

responsibilities. Nonetheless, the findings of this research can also be used as a base for further research in the future. 4.2.5 Scope of Study Respondents for this research consist of students from UiTM Sabah who have participated in the survey on a strictly voluntary basis. The participants were selected, to the best of the researchers'
~nowledge

represented all racial/ethnic

groups. They were approached both in the classrooms at UiTM Sabah campus and in random social interaction. Convenience sampling were used in the selection of the participants. 4.2.6 i. Limitations of study Misinterpretation of questions by respondents Some of the respondents may have misinterpret or misunderstand the requirement of the questions. This results to the respondents answering the questionnaire inaccurately. Some may also just simply answered the questionnaire without any effort to fully understand the questions. One of the reason why this happened is because respondent may find it difficult to understand the questions asked by the researcher. Lack of understanding of the question will lead them to give false interpretation of the questionnaire and this will cause them to give false answer.

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ii.

Unavailability of literature based on the local Malaysia scenario It seemed that there was no previous research done on this topic based on the local scenario. Most of the past research also focuses more on the psychological aspects of romantic relationships, thus limiting the resources which focus solely on academic achievements of university students.

iii.

Time constraints The researchers faced some time constraints due to some unexpected happenings, which involved the ability of the researcher to contribute to the work to be done in order to complete the research on time. Some technical issues were also faced during the completion of this research, thus delaying the completion of this paper.

4.2.7

Definition Of Terms

4.2.7.1

Romantic relationship
Evidence of a romantic relationship may include but not

be limited to the following behaviours: a pattern of exclusivity between the couple; time spent together as a couple after work hours; physical touching that implies a romantic intention or desire; the sharing of personal information appropriate for a romantic relationship but beyond the boundaries of a professional workplace relationship; actual physical intimacy; written communications or other actions that imply or directly indicate romantic interest. (Policy on Consensual Romantic

Relationships, Calvin College Faculty Handbook)

4.2.7.2

Academic performance

For the purpose of this research, students' academic performances will be measured based on their cumulative grade average points (CGPA).

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4.3 Literature Review

4.3.1 Romantic Relationships
Romantic relationships, like friendships are ongoing voluntary interactions that are mutually acknowledged, rather than identified by only one member of a pair. Romantic relationships, however, also have an unusual passion, which can be seen through expressions of affection-including physical ones and, perhaps, the expectation of sexual relations, eventually as the couples gets older (Brown, Furman, & Feiring, 1999; Reis & Shaver, 1988)

A romantic relationship can be characterized by a feeling of dependence, where the lover relies, to a certain degree, on the beloved in order to function. Individuals seek companionship, help, affection, intimacy and emotional security (Demir, 2007). Everyone of us will experience romantic relationships at some point of our lives. Some may experience it earlier and some may be later in life. Romantic relationship is necessary in the life of a human being as Maslow's hierarchy noted that one of the needs of a human being is the need to be loved. Once this need is being fulfilled then only one can move on to fulfilling the next level of needs, which is esteem needs.

Based on a study conducted by Luqman (2009), romantic love is a pattern of exclusivity between a couple and time spent together as a couple after work hours. Physical touching that implies a romantic intention or desire is also one of the romantic love characteristic and the sharing of personal information appropriate for a romantic relationship but beyond the boundaries of a professional workplace relationship. It can be seen in terms of physical intimacy and written

.

communications or other actions that imply or directly indicate romantic interest.

4.3.2 Costs and Benefits of Romantic Relationships
A study by Barber and Eccles (2003) mentioned that the quality of adolescent romantic relationship can have long lasting effects on self esteem and shape the personal values of that person. On the other hand, Luqman (2009) in his study found that the basic characteristic of individuals who are most successful at love is high self-esteem. Individuals with high self-esteem will experience romantic love more often than those with low self-esteem, and eventually have better romantic

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relationships. This could be partly due to the fact that they are less emotionally dependent on partners and view love as a fulfilling personal experience rather than an intense interdependence. Other than that, it is also found that having a supportive romantic relationship may have a positive effect on one's general emotional state, thus creating positive relationships with other people in their surrounding (Connolly & Johnson, 1996). This happens because when in a romantic relationship a person feels accepted and has higher sense of belonging thus, higher level of self esteem. Rice and Fitzgerald (1990) in their study also found that men who are in romantic relationship have higher levels of self-esteem than those without a partner, where romantic relationship is said to have a positive impact on men's feelings of self-worth. This is also supported by a study conducted by Sgobbo (2000), where it revealed that males who dated while in college felt a higher level of self-esteem through social interaction. Dating provided them constant interaction with students of the opposite sex. Romantic involvement can also lead to self-growth and understanding. At the same time it would also make individuals who are involved in a romantic relationship to feel better about themselves (Montgomery, 2005)

A new romantic partner is a common source of strain in adolescent friendships. Adolescents with romantic relationships interact less with their friends (Lauren and Williams, 1997). Couples who are deeply in love will try to spend as much time together as possible. Around the campus we see them together in the classroom, in the library, in the canteen and anywhere possible for them to be together. Individuals involved in relationships are forced to manage their time and experience more stressors because of the relationship. These couples feel guilty if they cannot celebrate special occasion due to same time with academic activities such as exam or test. According to Luqman (2009), he mentioned that couples tend to celebrate their special occasion rather than attend an exam or test.

According to Giordano et.al. (2008) romantic relationships, like friendships, are characterized by frequent interaction and communication. Based simply on the amount of time adolescent romantic partners often spend together it is reasonable to expect that partners could become a source of influence with regard to school matters and a host of other issues. As couples spend most of their time together, romantic partners become central attachment, affiliative and caretaking figures

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(Furhan and Wehner, 1994). Spending too much time together will develop a strong bond between the couple thus they will have a strong influence on each other, in terms of their attitude, their thinking and decision making pattern.

It was found that girls are likely to be more influenced by romantic partners, where it has been suggested that young women's excessive focus on dating and capturing male attention often limits or derails academic pursuits. This can be seen through the work of Holland and Eisenhart (1990), whereby they found that peer group concerns, centered on boys and dating and did little to enhance academic success. Gilligan (1982) emphasized that girls have a stronger

relational orientation and learn to center much time and energy on their romantic endeavors. They will spend much of their time thinking about their partner and doing things with or for their partners, so much so that they tend to neglect their own needs and their own tasks that they should do. Girls are more heavily invested in romantic relationships, while male adolescents place more emphasis on achieving status in the eyes of their peers (Wight, 1994).

This scenario will somehow contribute to the decline in their academic achievement, since much time is spent on their romantic relationship instead of focusing on their academic attainment. Kopfler (2003) in his research mentioned that level of romantic relationship must be taken into consideration because there is a difference between a student involved in an exclusive relationship from a student involved in a casual dating relationship. The more serious a relationship is the more the individuals involved in the relationship will commit their time and effort towards the relationship. When the individuals involved do not know how to balance between their relationship and their academic commitment, this is when problems start to arise. Nonetheless, it is not all bad when students get involved in a romantic relationship and yet still able to balance between the two. Adolescents who date and form romantic relationships may face negative consequences in their educational performance and aspirations (Crissey, 2006). It is also suggested that romantic relationships act as social pressure to value relationships particularly distracts girls from academics, or even acts as a socializing agent to discourage girls from educational pursuits. A study conducted by Quatman, Sampson, Robinson and Watson (2001) among high school students in California revealed a relationship between dating more frequently and lower academic performance.

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Being in a romantic relationship can create a strain on time and often any other type of relationship including friends and family. Sharing a romantic relationship with someone can even diminish one's effectiveness in all other areas of their lives, yet people continue to will or wish that stress onto them (Krech, 2009). Usually in the beginning of a committed relationship partners tend to be more supportive and loving towards one another. However, after a few years this support and lovingness dwindle. Some couples are very lucky to have supporting partners that will encourage each other to do well. For some, unlucky ones they just have to bear the cost of having an unsupportive partner. It has been proven through a study by Jimenez,(2005), that college females who are in a supportive relationship have a significantly higher GPA than those who are in a relationship with unsupportive and uncommunicative partners. As mentioned by Connolly and Johnson (1996), earlier having a supportive romantic relationship may have a positive effect on one's general emotional state. When a person has a positive general emotional state, this person may have a more positive outlook on his or her life and surrounding as a whole. Crissey (2006), conclude that there were differences in performance between female and male, where the male are doing better in their academics while in a romantic relationship than female. The research also sees that female students who form relationship have a significant decline in their overall grades compared to female students who do not date. This indicates that romantic relationship has negative effects on student's academic performance. Meanwhile, in other research also mention about academic performance and gender where the researchers also agrees that males are better than female. This is because, the researchers said those males are better in manage their emotions and feeling rather than female students. However, percent of violence among male students are quite high when it involves their romantic relationship and this will effect to their academic. So they conclude that, academic results are affected from their behavior and how they managed their romantic relationship. When couples are too emotional in their relationship, there will be some spill over effect to their daily life in terms of their stress level as well as their academic performance. Furthermore, Peggy C. Giordano, Kenyatta D. Phelps, Wendy D. Manning and Monica A. Longmore, mention about difference of effects between female and male student which are male also better in manage emotions however their results are worst than female students. They also suggested that, even female are more

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emotional than male student, their performance still better because of high selfesteem and focus for their study. Goals also could influence their performance which are based on their research, most of male students want to be businessmen, meanwhile for female students, they prefer employed by companies and be celebrities. So, a goal also is important role on how they manage their study style and performance.

4.3.3

Theoretical Framework

There are two variables used in conducting this research, which are independent and dependent variable. The independent variables are one

that influences the dependent variable.

Dependent Variable

Independent Variable

Having romantic relationship

Current GPA

Supportive partner

Time Management

Effects of relationships to academic performance

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4.4 METHODOLOGY

4.4.1

Data Collection Methods

There are two types of Data Collection Methods which are Primary Data and Secondary Data.

4.4.2

Primary Data

Primary Data is data that observed or collected directly form first-hand experience. It is collected by using the survey method that is by communicating with the sampling of respondent. The primary data collection method used by researcher as follows:

4.4.3

Questionnaires

In order to constructing the questionnaires, there need proper planning of question will be considered to ensure the question given are relevant with the topic. Therefore, a set of questionnaire was designed and distributed to the

targeted respondents to find out the information needed and related to the objectives of the study. This questionnaire consists of multiple-choice question, Iikert scale and open-ended question. The multiple-choice question provides a choice of answers and respondents are asked to tick one of the alternatives given. Meanwhile, the likert scale question is a measure of attitudes designed to allow respondents to indicate how strongly they agree or disagree with carefully constructed statement that range from very positive to very negative towards an attitudinal objects. Lastly, the open-ended question allows the respondents to answer in their own words or thinks based on the questions asked.

The questionnaire consists of 50 questions, which divided into three sections: Section A, Section B, and Section C. Therefore, Section A was

designed for respondent demographic which includes gender, matrix number, age, programme, part/semester, and current GPA. Then, Section B was

designed to obtain information regarding effects of romantic relationship on academic performance. Section C was designed for respondent to express their

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personal opinion that related on effects of romantic relationship on academic performance among university students.

4.4.4

Secondary Data

Secondary data are the existing primary data that was collected by someone else or for a purpose other than the current one. This data was obtained as to complete the study and was collected through textbook, journals, articles, and online website. The researcher also went to the UiTM Sabah Library to get the additional information. There are two types of secondary data, which are:

4.4.4.1 Internal Data

Internal data is obtained from the organization which is the research will be conducted. It also refers to the facts about the

products and services offered by the organization such as from the pamphlets and brochures.

4.4.4.2 External Data
External data are the data that already available outside the organization such as books, journals and articles that the researcher can get through from website as a guideline and support the research.

4.4.5

Research Design

There are two types of research design which are exploratory research and conclusive research. Exploratory research is one type of research design which has as its primary objective the provision of insight into and comprehension of the problem situation confronting the researcher. Conclusive research are

designed to assist the decision maker in determining, evaluating and selecting the best course of action to take in a given situations. In this research, the

researcher using exploratory research and there are six purpose of this research. First, formulate a problem or define a problem more precisely. Second, identify alternative courses of action. Third, develop hypotheses. Fourth, isolate key

variable and relationship for further examination. Fifth, gain insight for developing an approach to the problem. Sixth, establish priorities for further research.

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4.4.6 Sampling Procedure

4.4.6.1

Population

In this research, the target population are respondent from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Sabah.

4.4.6.2 Sample Size The size of sample that should be taken would reflect the basic characteristic from the target population. Therefore, in this research the sample size is 300 respondents.

4.4.6.3 Sampling Technique The sampling technique used for this research is convenience. Convenience sampling attempts to obtain a sample of convenient elements. This is because respondents are selected because they

happen to be in the right place at the right time. Therefore, in this study volunteers and individuals at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Sabah are used for the convenience sampling.

4.4.7

Procedure of Analysis of Data Using procedure of analysis of data,.all the data that researcher have

been gathered from the questionnaire will be analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS).

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4.5 Results and Discussion
The data obtained were transferred into coding sheets and entered into the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) programme to be analyzed. The analysis tools used includes Spearman correlation and crosstabs. The analysis conducted examined the effects of romantic relationships on students' academic performance in university.

Table 1. Demographic Profile of Survey Respondents Item Results

Gender

• •

Female = 61% Male = 39% 19 to 22 years old = 81% 23 to 26 years old = 18% 18 years old = 1% Diploma in Business Studies = 17% Diploma in Banking = 16% Diploma in Public Administration= 14% Diploma in Accounting = 10% Diploma in Tourism Management = 9% Diploma in Science = 8% Diploma in Plantation Manageme.nt= 7% Diploma in Printing Technology = 1% Bachelor in Business Administration (Hons) Marketing = 10% Bachelor in Administration Science (Hons) = 10% Bachelor in Business Administration (Hons) Economy = 5% Bachelor in Business Administration (Hons) Accounting = < 1% Semester 1 = 2% Semester 2 = 9% Semester 3 = 2% Semester 4 = 14% Semester 5 = 41% Semester 6 = 30% Semester 7 = 2%

Age

•
•

•
Course

•

• •
•

•
• •

•
•

•
• • • • •

Semester

•
• • •

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Current GPA

• • •

2.00 and below = 1% 2.00 - 2.49 2.50 3.00 3.50 -

• •

=21% 2.99 =40% 3.49 = 29% 4.00 = 9%

The study consisted of 116 males and 184 females, aged 18-26, with a mean age of 22 for 300 participants. The minimum age was 18 and the maximum was 26. Among of 300 participants, 275 reported to be in a current relationship, and 25 reported to be single. Cross tabulations were used to determine the effects of romantic relationships on students' academic performance in university and to examine gender differences in placing importance on academic achievement versus romantic relationships, while correlations were used to determine whether dating and involvement in romantic relationships will result in a lower GPA and CGPA.

Results obtained through the analysis identified that there are positive effects of romantic relationships on students' academic performance. It shows that when male students are in a romantic relationship especially above two years, they will tend to have a lower GPA. Our finding shows that 72% of male students having lower GPA which is within 2.00 to 2.99. Thus, indicating that the relationship have a significant effect on their academic performance. This findlng is contrary from past research where Crissey (2006) concluded that there were differences in performance between female and male. The male are doing better in their academics while in a romantic relationship as compare to female.

The previous research also sees that female students who form romantic relationship have a significant decline in their overall grades compared to female students without romantic relationship. This again is proven to be wrong in our

research where, it was identified that romantic relationship for female students show no significant effects to their academic performances. It was also identified that female students who are in a relationship for above two years tend to show good academic performances. There are about 48% of them showing a good GPA of 3.00 and above. This could be because when the female students are in a relationship they have someone to give them emotional support, someone who they can share their worries and thoughts with. It has been proven through a study by Jimenez

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(2005), where college females who are in a supportive relationship have a significantly higher GPA than those who are in a relationship with unsupportive and uncommunicative partners.

However, results indicate that males in a relationship have a lower GPA, thus signifying that their relationship does indeed have an effect on their academic performance. Giordano.et.al (2008), mentioned in their research that although male students are better in managing their emotions, their results are worst than female students. Luqman (2009) found that individuals involved in relationships are forced to manage their time and experience more stressors because of the relationship. This could be the main reason why although the males are good at hiding their emotions but still not able to perform.

The results also revealed that there is no significance difference between gender on placing importance on academic performance or on romantic relationship. It is a negative correlation as both gender do not care much about having a romantic relationship. However, the male respondents prefer to have a romantic relationship as compared to female. Nonetheless, 89% of male as well as female respondents do not place importance on havinq a romantic relationship. In terms of determining whether dating and involvement in romantic relationships will result in a lower GPA and CGPA, results showed that dating does indeed effect academic performance of the respondents. 61 % of respondents currently having relationships have GPA 2.00-

2.99, while 39% of the respondents with relationship have GPA 3.00-4.00. Therefore, dating and involvement in romantic relationships will result in a lower GPA and CGPA. A Likert scale was used to determine the respondents' opinion on whether dating will result to lack of study time due to more time spent on dating. Results showed that 32% of the respondents agreed that dating results to lack of study time.

It could be concluded that romantic relationships have a significant effect on the academic performance of the male students. Although studies have showed that males are good at managing their emotions, they too can be emotionally effected. According to Giordano. et.al (2008) boys may be more heavily influenced in certain respects by romantic partners as they are likely to experience a strong difference between their relationships with their friends and their romantic relationships with their partners. Therefore males can be considered more dependent on the romantic

relationships rather than the females as they put high importance in their romantic relationship. When they place high importance on the romantic relationship that they 16

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have, therefore these male students may somehow invest most of their time into the relationship. This will lead to little time spent on studying and eventually result to a bad academic performance.

Even though studies have indicated negative effects of romantic relationships on the academic performance of the females, it is prove to be on the contrary in this research. It was found that for the female respondents, there were no significant effects to their academic performance. About 60% of them are currently in a romantic relationship, they are still able to maintain a good academic performance. This can be seen from the results, where 48% of the female have a GPA of 3.00 and above. As compared to males with only 26% of those who holds a GPA of 3.00and above. Therefore, it can be said that romantic relationships are not at all bad for students, both male and female. It however can ensure that the students continue to get support and can together help each other to achieve their goals.

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4.6 Conclusion and Recommendation
The most significant fact revealed by this study is that when male students are in a romantic relationship especially above two years, they will tend to have a lower GPA. This was clearly shown by the statistics where 72% of male students having lower GPA which is within 2.00 to 2.99. With this information, it can be suggested that male students should be more cautious in their studies if they are involved in romantic relationships.

Another interesting finding from this study is that no significance difference between genders in terms of placing importance when it comes to academic versus romantic relationships. However, it was found out that male respondents prefer to have a romantic relationship as compared to female.

It could be concluded that romantic relationships have a significant effect on the academic performance especially for the male students. In fact, romantic relationships are not bad at all for male and female students. It could be used to ensure that the students continue to get support and can together help each other to achieve their goals. It would be up to the students to balance between their romantic relationships when one can have a balance between both this variables, the students will surely be able to excel together towards a brighter future.

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