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Out With the Old, In With the New? How Changes in Close Relationships Change the Self

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2018

Jonathan S. Gore Open the ORCID record for Jonathan S. Gore [Opens in a new window]  and
Damon Tichenor
Jonathan S. Gore*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky, USA
Damon Tichenor
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky, USA
*
Address for correspondence: Jonathan S. Gore, Department of Psychology, Eastern Kentucky University, 127 Cammack Building, 521 Lancaster Ave, Richmond, KY 40475, USA. Email: jonathan.gore@eku.edu
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Abstract

Two studies investigated how the development and maintenance of old and new relationships predict spontaneous and reactive self-concept change. For Study 1 (n = 143), freshmen in their first 8 weeks of college completed a Twenty Statements Test (TST), and indicated how close they felt in their established and new relationships. Eight weeks later, they indicated which aspects on the TST had changed. The results showed that closeness to old relationships at Time 1 predicted fewer deletions to their Time 2 TST, whereas closeness to new relationships at Time 1 predicted more additions to their Time 2 TST. For Study 2 (n = 195), participants completed a Big Five personality measure and closeness measure at two time points. The results showed that decreased closeness in old relationships at Time 2 predicted overall change to personality profiles. Implications for the link between relationships and self-concept change are discussed.

Keywords

self-conceptchangeclose relationshipsfreshmen
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Relationships Research , Volume 9 , 2018 , e13
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018 

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