“You’ve Changed”: Low Self-Concept Clarity Predicts Lack of Support for Partner Change

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia F. Emery ◽  
Wendi L. Gardner ◽  
Eli J. Finkel ◽  
Kathleen L. Carswell
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Romantic Partner ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Partner Change

People often pursue self-change, and having a romantic partner who supports these changes increases relationship satisfaction. However, most existing research focuses only on the experience of the person who is changing. What predicts whether people support their partner’s change? People with low self-concept clarity resist self-change, so we hypothesized that they would be unsupportive of their partner’s changes. People with low self-concept clarity did not support their partner’s change (Study 1a), because they thought they would have to change, too (Study 1b). Low self-concept clarity predicted failing to support a partner’s change, but not vice versa (Studies 2 and 3), and only for larger changes (Study 3). Not supporting a partner’s change predicted decreases in relationship quality for both members of the couple (Studies 2 and 3). This research underscores the role of partners in self-change, suggesting that failing to support a partner’s change may stem from self-concept confusion.

Is It Adaptive for People With Personality Problems to Know How Their Romantic Partner Perceives Them? The Effect of Meta-accuracy on Romantic Relationship Satisfaction

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika N. Carlson ◽  
Thomas F. Oltmanns
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Romantic Relationship ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Negative Association ◽  
Romantic Partner ◽  
Romantic Couples ◽  
Know How ◽  
Romantic Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Insight Into

People with personality disorder (PD) symptoms tend to report and have partners who report lower quality relationships with them. Using a large community sample of romantic couples, the current research tested whether the established link between PD symptoms and partner-reported relationship quality was attenuated by meta-accuracy (insight into the impression one makes) as well as whether the link between PD symptoms and self-reported relationship quality was attenuated by positivity (assuming one makes a desirable impression). Results suggested that meta-accuracy for core personality traits moderated the link between PD symptoms and partner-reported relationship quality, such that high meta-accuracy attenuated whereas low meta-accuracy exacerbated the negative association between PD symptoms and quality. However, individuals with symptoms did not necessarily reap the same relational benefits of their meta-accuracy, and positivity did not moderate the link between their symptoms and relationship quality. Implications for assessment and whether meta-accuracy should be improved are discussed.

scholarly journals Are Differences Between Partners Always Detrimental? The Moderating Role of Future Connectedness

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-192
Author(s):  
Simon Andrew Moss ◽  
Jasmine Dolan
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Romantic Partners ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Inverse Association ◽  
Primary Motivation ◽  
Expansion Theory ◽  
Moderating Role

Whether perceived differences between romantic partners compromises or enhances relationships may depend on the characteristics of individuals. This study explores the possibility that differences in capabilities but not motives enhance relationship satisfaction—but only when the individuals feel connected to their future identity. In particular, when individuals feel connected to their future identity, their primary motivation is to accrue capabilities and resources that could be useful in subsequent decades. They will thus seek partners with capabilities they have yet to acquire because, consistent with self-expansion theory, they tend to perceive these abilities as part of their own self-concept. To test this premise, 152 individuals rated the motives and capabilities of both themselves and their partners and also answered questions that gauge their relationship satisfaction and connectedness to their future identity. Perceived differences in motives and capabilities were inversely associated with relationship satisfaction. However, when participants felt connected to their future identity, the inverse association between differences in capabilities and relationship satisfaction diminished. Accordingly, if individuals perceive their lives as stable, they can embrace some differences between themselves and their partner.

Implications of relationship-induced self-concept change across partners: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 1554-1562
Author(s):  
Kevin P. McIntyre ◽  
Brent A. Mattingly ◽  
Sarah A. Gorban ◽  
Morgan A. Cope
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Romantic Partners ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Change Processes ◽  
Degradation Processes ◽  
Actor Partner Interdependence Model ◽  
Concept Change ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Model Approach

Investigations of relationship-induced self-concept change and relationship quality have generally been limited to intraindividual effects (i.e., actor effects). In the current study, we examined whether self-changes influence romantic partners’ perceptions of relationship satisfaction and commitment (i.e., partner effects). Using the actor–partner interdependence model, we tested how four self-concept change processes—self-expansion, self-pruning, self-contraction, and self-adulteration—are associated with relationship satisfaction and commitment. Results revealed robust actor effects across all self-change processes and partner effects on satisfaction for degradation processes only (i.e., self-contraction and self-adulteration), suggesting that self-changes differentially predict individuals’ and partners’ perceptions of the relationship.

The Dynamics of Self–Esteem in Partner Relationships

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Mund ◽  
Christine Finn ◽  
Birk Hagemeyer ◽  
Julia Zimmermann ◽  
Franz J. Neyer
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Initial Correlations ◽  
Partner Relationships ◽  
As Relationship ◽  
Dynamic Interplay

Previous research on the role of self–esteem in partner relationships indicates that it is both predictive of and predicted by variables such as relationship satisfaction. However, most of these studies were constrained to only relationship satisfaction, cross–sectional or individual data. In the present study, we examine the dynamic interplay between self–esteem and both broad (i.e. relationship satisfaction) and specific aspects of relationship quality (independence and connectedness) reflecting the fulfilment of agentic and communal needs in stable partner relationships from both an intrapersonal perspective and an interpersonal perspective. Study 1 assessed 186 individuals at three measurement occasions over 15 years and suggests a common developmental dynamic between self–esteem and relationship satisfaction, as indicated by initial correlations and correlated changes. In Study 2, actor and partner effects in stable couples ( N = 2124 dyads) were examined over a period of three years. It was found that self–esteem and all three aspects of relationship quality are dynamically intertwined in such a way that both previous levels and changes in one domain predict later changes in the other domain. Together, the findings indicate that self–esteem is consequential for the development of a variety of relationship aspects but likewise influenced by these very aspects. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology

The Role of Self-concept Clarity in Relationship Quality

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 416-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary W. Lewandowski ◽  
Natalie Nardone ◽  
Alanna J. Raines
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Self Concept
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document