"You Are So Beautiful... To Me": Romantic Partners' Insight Into Others' Perceptions

<p>Do romantic partners see each other realistically or do they have overly positive perceptions of each other? Research has shown that realism and positivity co-exist in romantic partners' perceptions: Boyes & Fletcher, 2007). The current study examines a novel approach to understanding how this seemingly paradoxical effect occurs. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that people are aware that others do not see their partners as positively as they do. Using both mean differences and correlational approaches, we test the notion that, despite their own biased perceptions, people have insight into how their partners see themselves: i.e., identity accuracy) and how others see their partners: i.e., reputation accuracy). We focus the first test of this phenomenon on perceptions of attractiveness, a highly evaluative trait important for mate selection and partner perception. Our results suggest that romantic partners have a sophisticated level of knowledge about each other, and this multi-faceted knowledge helps fulfill motives driven by both esteem- and epistemic-related needs: i.e., the need to see partners positively and realistically).</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• Solomon, Brittany

Contributors dc:contributor

• Simine Vazire

• romantic partners
• interpersonal perception
• bias
• realism

Language dc:language

English (en)

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7936/K7CC0XSX

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:openscholarship.wustl.edu:etd-1752