The Role of Self-concept Clarity in Relationship Quality

Previous research has linked self-concept clarity to positive outcomes (Campbell et al., 1996 Campbell, J. D., Trapnell, P. D., Heine, S. J., Katz, I. M., Lavallee, L. F. and Lehmann, D. R. 1996. Self-concept clarity: Measurement, personality correlates and cultural boundaries. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70: 141–156. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), but has not systematically explored its potential positive association with relationship quality. The current set of studies hypothesizes that self-concept clarity will positively correlate with relationship satisfaction and commitment, and that inclusion of other in the self and self-esteem will mediate the association. Study 1 examined correlations between self-report measures from 199 undergraduates, while Study 2 randomly assigned 78 undergraduates to either engage in a self-concept clarity or self-concept confusion manipulation. As hypothesized, in both studies, higher self-concept clarity was associated with higher relationship satisfaction and commitment. Inclusion of other in the self and self-esteem mediated the association between self-concept clarity and relationship quality measures (the only exception was for self-esteem and commitment in Study 1). These results demonstrate how a person's self-concept relates to romantic relationship quality.