Acta Psychologica Sinica

Abstract

Experiments involving the self-reference effect paradigm have yielded inconsistent results on the question of whether an individual’s self-construal includes intimate others. The aim of this study was to investigate whether genuine intimacy plays a role in the lover-reference effect, and to explore the influences of assumed intimacy and gender on the lover-reference effect. We hypothesized that the lover-reference effect would be apparent in the participants’ R (Remember) scores but not in their K (Know) scores.

The study included 68 participants currently involved in romantic relationships (33 females, 35 males; age M = 22.5 years, range 19–28 years; length of relationship M = 14.89 months, range 0.5–54 months). A 4 (orienting tasks: self, lover, LuXun, semantic) × 2 (genuine intimacy: high, low) × 2 (assumed intimacy: high, low) × 2 (gender: male, female) mixed design was used. The procedure consisted of three parts. Part one involved four orienting tasks. During each task, participants were asked to provide Yes/No judgments about reference objects, using the trait-adjective word displayed on a computer screen. Part two comprised a surprise recognition test including R/K judgments. In part three, participants were asked to complete the Genuine Intimacy Scale and Assumed Intimacy Scale.

A repeated measure MANOVA on the R scores revealed a significant interaction between genuine intimacy and orienting tasks, such that the group with a high degree of genuine intimacy showed a lover-reference effect, while that with a low degree of genuine intimacy did not: F (3, 102) = 2.71, p < 0.05, η ² = 0.07. A significant interaction was also found between gender and orienting tasks, such that females showed a lover-reference effect and males did not: F (3, 102) = 5.82, p < 0.01, η ² = 0.15. There was no significant interaction between assumed intimacy and referential condition: F (3, 102) = 1.89, p > 0.05, η ² = 0.05. The K scores revealed no significant results.

These results support the hypothesis that the lover-reference effect is influenced by genuine intimacy, and that there is a gender difference in the lover-reference effect. The lover-reference effect was only reflected in the participants’ R scores and was not significantly influenced by assumed intimacy.

Based on these results, the authors suggest that future research related to the inclusion of intimate others in an individual’s self-construal should consider genuine intimacy and gender.

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