Being Committed: Affective, Cognitive, and Conative Components of Relationship Commitment

Abstract

This article presents the first systematic empirical examination of the state of relationship commitment as advanced by Rusbult and her colleagues, defining the state in terms of affective, cognitive, and conative components. From this perspective, the state of commitment is seen as having three distinct components: (a) psychological attachment, (b) long-term orientation, and (c) intention to persist. Two longitudinal studies of individuals in dating relationships revealed that the three components each predict both couple functioning and eventual breakup status. Both studies also provided suggestive evidence that long-term orientation is a particularly important component of commitment in dating relationships.