Gary W Lewandowski Jr.

Monmouth University · Department of Psychology

Similar to how individuals in close relationships incorporate aspects of their partner into their self-concept, we suggest that jobs promote self-expansion when they lead people to develop skills and assume new identities. In Study 1, we sampled currently employed individuals, and results show that self-expansion predicts job satisfaction and commi...

Previous research has primarily focused on negative outcomes following relationship dissolution. The purpose of this study is to add to the growing literature that shows the positive outcomes that are possible. It was hypothesized that growth and positive emotions would be associated with self-related variables such as self-expansion and rediscover...

This study tested the influence of personality information on judgments of physical attractiveness. Employing a within-subject design, 56 female and 22 male college students rated attractiveness of opposite-sex photos; participated in a distraction task; viewed each photo again, along with personality information (desirable, undesirable, none); and...

Previous research suggests that new relationships expand the self-concept. The present research applies concepts from the self-expansion model to examine the conditions under which relationship dissolution may influence the self-concept. We hypothesized that the more expansion provided by a relationship predissolution, the greater the contraction o...

The present authors investigated whether an individual's motivations that are related to need fulfillment and self-expansion within a romantic relationship can predict self-reported susceptibility to infidelity. A sample of 109 college students (50 men, 59 women) who were in dating relationships completed questionnaires that assessed 5 types of var...

In this paper we review the self-expansion model in the context of close relationships, focusing primarily on work in the last 20 years, considering throughout variation in our samples across cultures and other demographics—both in existing studies and in potential implications for future research. The self-expansion model has two key principles. T...

Close relationships have the potential to fundamentally alter relationship partners’ self-concepts and, consequently, can impact individuals’ mental health. One type of relationship-induced self-concept change is self-expansion, which describes the cognitive reorganization of the self that can occur when individuals include aspects of their partner...

Close relationships have the potential to fundamentally alter relationship partners’ self-concepts and, consequently, can impact individuals’ mental health. One type of relationship-induced self-concept change is self-expansion, which describes the cognitive reorganization of the self that can occur when individuals include aspects of their partner...

The self-expansion theory suggests that acquiring novel experiences, perspectives, and resources can expand people’s self-concepts (Aron & Aron, 1986). Many studies have demonstrated the implications of self-expansion for wellbeing in interpersonal and nonrelational contexts. Although scholars have proposed that self-expansion is a basic human moti...

When individuals enter into close relationships, they can experience a variety of changes to the self-concept; these changes are directly linked to and affected by their relational partners. This chapter first explores the theoretical underpinnings of relationship-induced self-concept change by describing three key complementary perspectives: cogni...

This conclusion chapter summarizes and integrates the various themes and findings described in this volume. In it, we connect the various chapters to reveal how relationship-induced self-concept change can occur at any time before, during, or after a romantic relationship. We also consider how different types of changes to the self can wax and wane...

The formation and functioning of close relationships can alter individuals’ self-concepts in such a manner that the self-concepts are cognitively linked with the partner; however, relationship dissolution directly threatens the loss of this intertwined self-concept. In this chapter, we first discuss the degree to which prior relationship-induced se...

Self-expansion is generally studied in the context of romantic relationships; however, self-expansion can also occur in a variety of non-relational settings. This chapter explores the opportunities for workplaces to promote self-expansion. People may experience self-expansion at work when their jobs provide them with novel experiences, challenges,...

This volume provides an overview of the theoretical and empirical work on relationship-induced self-concept change that has occurred over the last 10-15 years. The chapters in this volume discuss the foundations of relationship self-change, how and when it occurs, how it influences relationship decisions and behavior, and how it informs and modifie...

People’s self-concepts are subject to change through various processes, one of which is self-expansion. Self-expansion is a motivation to increase one’s self-concept through engaging in novel, exciting, and interesting activities or by taking on one’s partner’s qualities. Despite the plethora of research on self-expansion, there has not been much w...

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 co...

The goal of the present study was to identify whether children recognize the gender stereotypes prevalent within the increasingly popular princess, prince, and superhero characters. Interviews with 126 children from the northeast region of the Unites States (3–11 years old) indicated that children recognized the gender-typed personality traits of p...

Nearly every psychology major takes a course in research methods. While several studies have examined students’ perceptions of research methods courses (e.g., Rajecki, Appleby, Williams, Johnson, & Jeschke, 2005; Vittengl et al., 2004), few investigate faculty’s views on these courses. The current study explored faculty perceptions regarding course...

In this chapter we describe the self-expansion model as a conceptual framework for understanding romantic love and relationship well-being.

This chapter reviews the empirical evidence examining the link between self-concept clarity and close romantic relationships. Overall, increased self-concept clarity among partners predicts a variety of positive relationship outcomes, including relationship quality (e.g., satisfaction and commitment), investment, and self-other correspondence that...

In this chapter we focus on the potential practical applications to optimal relationship development based on thinking and research from the self-expansion model, how its application could help move couples from being dis-satisfied and bored with each other, to happy and passionate with each other. We begin with a basic description of the model and...

This study examines how a person’s willingness to exert effort affects how others perceive their romantic desirability. The study also examines whether the participants’ implicit theory of personality (incremental or entity) influences ratings of the target’s romantic desirability based on the target’s level of effort. Seventy-eight (17 males, 61 f...

Individuals in close relationships may perceive changes to their self-concepts as a result of being with their partners. According to the two-dimensional model of relational self-change, these changes occur across two dimensions, namely direction, which reflects whether the self-concept has gained or lost content, and valence, which reflects whethe...

This study investigates the effects of acute stress on positive and negative relationship behaviors, specifically assurances and attention to alternatives. A sample of 129 college students were randomly assigned to either a high or low stress condition, then were led to believe they had the opportunity to interact with attractive potential relation...

For better or worse, relationships have the potential to affect individuals' self-concepts; however, currently no integrative model exists to explain the variety of these self-concept changes. We propose that self-concept changes occur along two independent dimensions: direction (increase vs. decrease in content) and valence (positivity vs. negativ...

The self-expansion model posits that individuals are motivated to broaden their sense of self by acquiring new identities, developing new perspectives, enhancing capabilities, and gaining resources. The self-expansion motivation is driven by individuals' desire to increase their potential self-efficacy and ability to accomplish goals. In this artic...

We conducted three studies to examine whether novel and interesting experiences can expand individuals' self-concepts. In Studies 1 and 2, participants completed measures of experienced self-expansion and self-concept size. Results indicated that participants who had more novel and interesting experiences tended to have larger self-concepts. In Stu...

The self-expansion model suggests that the acquisition of new identities, capabilities, perspectives, and resources primarily occurs in the context of romantic relationships and that self-expanding activities have numerous benefits for relationships. However, self-expansion can theoretically occur outside of a relational context, yet little is know...

A multifaceted approach to teaching five experimental designs in a research methodology course was tested. Participants included 70 students enrolled in an experimental research methods course in the semester both before and after the implementation of instructional change. When using a multifaceted approach to teaching research methods that includ...

The success of a relationship initiation strategy, such as a pick-up line or opening gambit, may depend on the target’s state receptivity. Self-control is a limited resource that, when depleted, can potentially influence interpersonal interactions. The present research examines whether ego depletion can influence receptivity to various types of ope...

Recent research has established that individuals’ perception of global warming is malleable such that individuals report that it is a more serious problem when they experience higher outdoor or indoor temperatures (Li et al. Psychological Science, 22(4), 454–459, 2011; Risen and Critcher Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(5), 777–793...

The self-expansion model posits that individuals are fundamentally motivated to expand their sense of self. It is proposed that approach—but not avoidance—motivation underlies self-expansion and that approach-motivated individuals should be especially interested in self-expanding with a person who provides many novel resources, identities, and pers...

The current set of studies investigated whether undergraduates with greater self-concept clarity also demonstrated greater accuracy based on self–other agreement and behavioral prediction. Study 1 demonstrated a positive association between self-concept clarity and target–informant agreement for a set of observable traits. Study 2 explored the asso...

The self-expansion model states that an expanded self-concept is associated with an increased sense of self-efficacy. We conducted four studies (three correlational, one experimental) to test this central tenet of the self-expansion model in a non-relational context. Results indicate that self-concept size (Studies 1 and 2) and subjective sense of...

Two studies examined the process by which romantic relationship partners who report lower self-expansion in their relationship come to show greater interest in their alternatives. We tested predictions based on the alternatives literature in which lacking relationship-derived self-expansion would lead to failures of motivational bias (i.e., devalui...

Undergraduate students enrolled in their first statistics course were randomly assigned to read one of two mini-lessons about methodological confounds. In one, a therapist investigated a variable that might affect depression; in the other, a researcher investigated a variable that might affect memory. As hypothesised, the clinical lesson produced s...

The current research examines the effect of self-regulation on the likelihood of committing infidelity. Thirty-two college students in exclusive romantic relationships interacted through a private chat room with an opposite-sex confederate. Prior to this interaction, a food-restriction task depleted half the participants of self-control. As predict...

This set of experiments assessed the influence of RateMyProfessors.com profiles, and the perceived credibility of those profiles, on students’ evaluations of professors and retention of material. In Study 1, 302 undergraduates were randomly assigned to read positive or negative RateMyProfessors.com profiles with comments that focused on superficial...

Previous research has linked self-concept clarity to positive outcomes (Campbell et al., 199617. Campbell , J. D. , Trapnell , P. D. , Heine , S. J. , Katz , I. M. , Lavallee , L. F. and Lehmann , D. R. 1996 . Self-concept clarity: Measurement, personality correlates and cultural boundaries . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 70 : 141...

This investigation examined whether exposure to a multicultural or colorblind orientation influenced social tolerance in racially diverse students. Students were randomly assigned to a colorblind, multicultural, or control ideology. They completed group-specific measures and general measures of diversity. Results indicate that successful anti-bias...

It has been argued that there is a growing trend in personality and social psychological science concerning the preference of self-report measures over the use of direct observations of behavior for the outcome variables of interest. Augmenting the use of self-reports with measures of behavior helps achieve methodological pluralism that allows rese...

Students completed surveys at the beginning and end of a sophomore-level course on research and statistics. We hypothesized that the course would produce advances in knowledge of research and statistics and that those changes would be accompanied by more favorable attitudes toward the subject matter. Results showed that knowledge did increase signi...

Past research shows that writing promotes coping following traumatic events, but pays limited attention to the benefits of writing following relationship dissolution. Research also largely overlooks the utility of positively-focused writing following stressful events. A total of 87 currently single participants (25 males, 62 females) who recently e...

In this study, a prototype analysis of romantic missing was conducted. College-age participants in the United States generated features of missing a partner (Study 1) and rated their centrality (Study 2). In a reaction time task, participants made category judgments for central features more quickly than for noncentral features (Study 3). In recogn...

The present study sought to determine whether past relationships have a significant influence on the self, and thereby influence subsequent partner choice. Specifically, it was hypothesized that inclusion of a former partner in the self would be positively correlated to desired similarity between the former and next likely partner in terms of physi...

This study attempts to disentangle the influence of arousal from novelty and challenge in the context of interpersonal attraction. Further, this study attempts to demonstrate the robustness of the arousal/attraction effect. Cross-sex stranger pairs participated in one of four game-like physical activities in a 2 (high vs. low novelty/challenge) X 2...

We propose that to some extent, people treat the resources, perspectives, and identities of close others as their own. This proposal is supported by allocation, attribution, response time, and memory experiments. Recently, we have applied this idea to deepening understanding of feeling “too close” (including too much of the other in the self leadin...

This edited volume draws together a wide range of exciting developments in the study of marital interaction. A significant feature of the book is its focus, not only on conflict and negative interactions but also on the processes by which couples maintain happy and constructive relationships. The chapters review and integrate the extensive literatu...