Author： Linardatos Lisa Lydon John
Publisher： Routledge Ltd
ISSN： 1529-8868
Source： Self and Identity, Vol.10, Iss.1, 2011-01, pp. : 85-100
Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.
Abstract
When faced with a partner transgression, what causes an individual to avoid the temptation to respond in kind? We theorized that for those who incorporate their close relationships into their sense of self, priming a mental representation of their romantic partner would activate relationship-relevant cognitive-affective associations that would promote pro-relationship responding. Dating undergraduates (N = 140; 81 females) received either a partner or control prime and later completed a measure of relationship maintenance. Results demonstrated that participants with a highly relational self-construal exhibited an increase in benign attributions for a partner transgression following a relationship reminder, controlling for relationship satisfaction and commitment. It was concluded that relational self-construal is an important individual difference variable in the experimental activation of relationship maintenance processes.
Related content
Access to resources
Recommend
Access to resources