Submission Date

7-22-2016

Document Type

Paper- Restricted to Campus Access

Department

Psychology

Faculty Mentor

Brent Mattingly

Comments

Presented during the 18th Annual Summer Fellows Symposium, July 22, 2016 at Ursinus College.

Project Description

Romantic relationships alter the self of the individuals within them. After falling in love with their partner, people are more likely to experience a change of self-concept. These changes might include developing shared friend groups and hobbies, and even overlapping self-concepts. However, having an overlapping self-concept with another person potentially places individuals at risk of self-concept loss and self-concept confusion if these relationships end. Therefore, the current research examines the trajectory of self-other inclusion by manipulating the amount of self-disclosure among strangers. Throughout the study, the amount of self-disclosure was manipulated and measured as was the length of time that participants were self-disclosing. Participants were tested on four different aspects to examine any self-concept changes before and after the experimental setting. Specifically, I examined how participants’ attitudes toward personal behavior and daily habits changed as a result of the self-disclosure manipulation. Participants were randomly assigned to pair with another participant to complete a self-disclosure task. The given time to complete the task is controlled by the researcher. Results from this study will be presented, and implications for the research will be discussed.

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