Implications of Relationship-Induced Self-Concept Change Across Partners: An Actor-Partner Interdependence 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.