The mediating role of emotion regulation in the relationship between university students' manipulation tendencies and relationship satisfaction

The aim of this study is to examine whether emotion regulation plays a mediating role in the relationship between university students' tendency to manipulate in romantic relationships and their relationship satisfaction. Additionally, it was examined whether students who had previously been in a romantic relationship or who are currently in one differ in terms of relationship satisfaction, tendency to manipulate, and emotional regulation based on demographic variables such as gender, age, and duration of the romantic relationship. In this study, the correlational research method, one of the quantitative research designs, was used. The Human Relations Manipulation Scale (HRMS), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS), and Personal Information Form were used as data collection tools in the study. The study group consisted of a total of 340 university students aged 18-27 studying in Turkey. The study group included 202 female and 138 male participants. For the analysis of the data in the study, the t-test was used for independent samples, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for independent samples, the Levene test was used to test the homogeneity of variances, the Tukey test was used to determine which groups were responsible for the significant differences that emerged as a result of the one-way analysis of variance, and descriptive statistical methods were used. University students' relationship satisfaction, manipulation tendencies, and emotion regulation scores differed significantly according to gender, age, and duration of romantic relationships. Correlation analysis results indicate that there is a positive and moderate relationship between university students' re-evaluation and relationship satisfaction, a negative and moderate relationship between manipulation tendencies, and that suppression has a negative and moderate relationship with relationship satisfaction, a positive relationship with manipulation tendencies, and a moderate relationship. In addition, a negative and moderate correlation was found between manipulation tendencies and relationship satisfaction. For the mediation analysis of the research problem, Hayes' (2013) SPSS Process Macro 4.2 add-on and Model 4 were used, and regression analysis was performed using the bootstrap (resampling) method. The findings revealed that the sub-dimensions of emotion regulation, namely reappraisal and suppression, played a moderate mediating role in the relationship between university students' manipulation tendencies and relationship satisfaction. Keywords: Romantic relationships, Manipulation tendency, Emotion regulation, Reappraisal, suppression, Romantic relationship satisfaction.