Predicting Commitment in New Relationships: Interactive Effects of Relational Self-construal and Power

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that individuals with highly relational self-construals define the self in terms of close relationships and tend to behave in ways that enhance the development and maintenance of important relationships (Cross, Morris, & Gore, 2002 Cross, S. E., Morris, M. L. and Gore, J. 2002. Thinking about oneself and others: The relational-interdependent self-construal and social cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82: 399–418. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Other research suggests that having power in a situation allows one to pursue important goals, which we hypothesize may also include relationship goals. We examined how relational self-construal and power interacted with self-disclosure and forgiveness to predict commitment in new college roommate relationships over the course of a semester. Analyses revealed that self-disclosure and forgiveness were strong predictors of commitment and change in commitment. Furthermore, relational self-construal and power moderated the association of self-disclosure and forgiveness with commitment.