Romantic Relationships as a Source of Significance

Drawing on significance quest theory and its derived model of romantic relationships, we demonstrated that perceiving romantic partners as having socially valued qualities (partners’ merit) and as admiring and caring (partners’ appreciation) enhanced actors’ significance gained through the romantic relationship which, in turn, increased the likelihood to enter (Studies 1A and 1B) and maintain (Study 2) romantic relationships. Further, Study 3 demonstrated that significance gained through romantic relationships and inclusion of the other in the self were independently associated with romantic partners’ merit and appreciation and the likelihood of maintaining romantic relationships. Finally, Study 4 showed that people experiencing feelings of significance loss were more sensitive to their partners’ merit and appreciation features. Findings are compared with the rich social psychological literature on romantic relationships and future directions are outlined.