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Consistent with a mini-theory of motivational factors in unreciprocated love, (a) perceived potential value of a relationship with another; perceived probability of such a relationship; and desirability of the state of being in love with this other, even if it is unreciprocated, were each significantly and independently predictive of reported intensity of unreciprocated love; (b) incidence of unreciprocated love was greatest for those whose self-reported attachment style was anxious/ambivalent; and (c) perceived potential value of the relationship was most predictive of intensity for anxious/ambivalents and perceived desirability of the state was most predictive of intensity for avoidants. Findings are based on structural equation modeling analyses of questionnaire responses from a moderately large sample of U.S. undergraduates and were not qualified by gender., Unreciprocated love, loving someone who does not love you, is important both as a phenomenon in its own right and because its existence represents a motivational paradox of more general [...]

Over a series of 7 studies that used diverse samples and measures, this research identified a unidimensional core variable of high sensory-processing sensitivity and demonstrated its partial independence from social introversion and emotionality, variables with which it had been confused or subsumed in most previous theorizing by personality researchers. Additional findings were that there appear to be 2 distinct clusters of highly sensitive individuals (a smaller group with an unhappy childhood and related variables, and a larger group similar to nonhighly sensitive individuals except for their sensitivity) and that sensitivity moderates, at least for men, the relation of parental environment to reporting having had an unhappy childhood. This research also demonstrated adequate reliability and content, convergent, and discriminant validity for a 27-item Highly Sensitive Person Scale.

The extended contact hypothesis proposes that knowledge that an in-group member has a close relationship with an out-group member can lead to more positive intergroup attitudes. Proposed mechanisms are the in-group or out-group member serving as positive exemplars and the inclusion of the out-group member's group membership in the self. In Studies 1 and 2, respondents knowing an in-group member with an out-group friend had less negative attitudes toward that out-group, even controlling for dispositional variables and direct out-group friendships. Study 3, with constructed intergroup-conflict situations (on the robbers cave model), found reduced negative out-group attitudes after participants learned of cross-group friendships. Study 4, a minimal group experiment, showed less negative out-group attitudes for participants observing an apparent in-group-out-group friendship.

A practical methodology is presented for creating closeness in an experimental context. Whether or not an individual is in a relationship, particular pairings of individuals in the relationship, and circumstances of relationship development become manipulated variables. Over a 45-min period subject pairs carry out self-disclosure and relationship-building tasks that gradually escalate in intensity. Study 1 found greater postinteraction closeness with these tasks versus comparable small-talk tasks. Studies 2 and 3 found no significant closeness effects, in spite of adequate power, for (a) whether pairs were matched for nondisagreement on important attitudes, (b) whether pairs were led to expect mutual liking, or (c) whether getting close was made an explicit goal. These studies also illustrated applications for addressing theoretical issues, yielding provocative tentative findings relating to attachment style and introversion/extraversion., A core variable in the thriving study of the social psychology of close relationships is whether a subject is in such a relationship. So far, researchers have compared those in [...]

Study 1 identified a 3-dimensional latent structure of the prototype of love, based on factor analyzing centrality ratings of 68 prototypical features of love identified by B. Fehr (1988); we labeled these Passion, Intimacy, and Commitment. Studies 2 and 3 cross-validated this result with new samples. Study 4 showed convergent and discriminant validity of scales based on these dimensions and compared results with the centrality-rating method to an alternative prototype-relevant method. Study 5 found convergent and discriminant validity with a version of R. J. Sternberg's (1988) Triangular Love Scale. Study 5 also obtained the same 3-dimensional structure for both people's concept of love and descriptions of their own love relationships but the emphasis among dimensions corresponded only moderately between concept and descriptions. Study 6 showed correspondences between prototype-feature dimensions and love styles (C. Hendrick & S. Hendrick, 1986; J. A. Lee, 1977). Study 7 examined a shortened scale for the 3 dimensions and replicated the main results of Study 6 with that scale.

Two prospective, longitudinal studies examined the consequences of falling in love, focusing on predictions developed in the context of A. Aron and E. N. Aron's (1986, in press) self-expansion model of motivation and cognition in close relationships. In each study a sample with a high expected incidence of falling in love (first- and second-year undergraduates in the fall term) was tested 5 times over 10 weeks. At each testing participants indicated whether they had fallen in love and either made open-ended lists of self-descriptive terms (Study 1; N = 329) or completed standard self-efficacy and self-esteem measures (Study 2; N = 529). As predicted, after falling in love there was greater change and increased diversity of self-concept domains (Study 1) and increased self-efficacy and self-esteem (Study 2). Partial correlation analyses suggested that results in both studies were not due to mood change.

In 2 studies, the Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) Scale, a single-item, pictorial measure of closeness, demonstrated alternate-form and test-retest reliability; convergent validity with the Relationship Closeness Inventory (Berscheid, Snyder, & Omoto, 1989), the Sternberg (1988) Intimacy Scale, and other measures; discriminant validity; minimal social desirability correlations; and predictive validity for whether romantic relationships were intact 3 months later. Also identified and cross-validated were (a) a 2-factor closeness model - Feeling Close and Behaving Close - and (b) longevity-closeness correlations that were small for women versus moderately positive for men. Five supplementary studies showed convergent and construct validity with marital satisfaction and commitment and with a reaction-time-based cognitive measure of closeness in married couples; and with intimacy and attraction measures in stranger dyads following laboratory closeness-generating tasks. In 3 final studies most Ss interpreted IOS Scale diagrams as depicting interconnectedness.

The cognitive significance of being in a close relationship is described in terms of including other in the self (in Lewin's sense of overlapping regions of the life space and in James's sense of the self as resources, perspectives, and characteristics). Experiment 1, adapting Liebrand's (1984) decomposed-game procedures, found less self/other difference in allocations of money to a friend than to a stranger, regardless of whether Ss expected other to know their allocations. Experiment 2, adapting Lord's (1987) procedures, found that Ss recalled fewer nouns previously imaged with self or mother than nouns imaged with a nonclose other, suggesting that mother was processed more like self than a stranger. Experiment 3, adapting self-schema, reaction-time procedures (e.g., Markus, 1977), found longer latencies when making 'me/not me' decisions for traits that were different between self and spouse versus traits that were similar for both, suggesting a self/other confusion with spouse.

Found participation in transcendental meditation classes produced significant freshman-senior increases on intelligence and increased social self-confidence, sociability, general psychological health, and social maturity. No change was observed on social desirability. Changes may reflect success of the Maharishi International University approach to generate increases in intelligence, personal and social maturity. (Author)

Participation in shared self-expanding activities benefits both relationships and the self. However, most studies use tasks that combine self-expansion and arousal within one activity, making it difficult to know what drives the benefits. We tested the distinct effects of self-expansion and arousal in four studies. In Studies 1 and 2, 35 married couples and 106 friend pairs completed experiments manipulating self-expansion and arousal. Self-expansion (and not arousal) predicted relationship and individual outcomes. In Studies 3 and 4, 200 married individuals and 202 individuals thinking of a close friend reported perceptions of self-expansion and arousal during activities. Simultaneous regressions showed self-expansion, controlling (or not controlling) for arousal, predicted relationship, and individual outcomes. Results suggest that self-expansion is central for deriving benefits of shared activities, while arousal does not seem to be necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusion of other in the self, a key principle of the self-expansion model, suggests that close others overlap with the self in terms of resources, perspectives, and identities. Research from behavioral, cognitive, and neural domains provides evidence for inclusion of other in the self; the present research extends prior theoretical and empirical work to a new, visual domain by investigating whether inclusion of other in the self applies to facial processing. In two reaction time (RT) experiments, participants viewed static (Study 1) and morphed (Study 2) facial images of themselves, their close friend (i.e., a close other), and a familiar celebrity (i.e., a non-close other). In Study 1, participants showed slower RTs when comparing their own image with their friend's image than when comparing their own image with a celebrity's image. In Study 2, participants showed slower RTs when their own image was morphed with their friend's image than when their own image was morphed with the celebrity's image. These results suggest that inclusion of close others in the self extends to visual processing. Implications and limitations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]