Out With the Old, In With the New? How Changes in Close Relationships Change the Self

Two studies investigated how the development and maintenance of old and new relationships predict spontaneous and reactive self-concept change. For Study 1 ( n = 143), freshmen in their first 8 weeks of college completed a Twenty Statements Test (TST), and indicated how close they felt in their established and new relationships. Eight weeks later, they indicated which aspects on the TST had changed. The results showed that closeness to old relationships at Time 1 predicted fewer deletions to their Time 2 TST, whereas closeness to new relationships at Time 1 predicted more additions to their Time 2 TST. For Study 2 ( n = 195), participants completed a Big Five personality measure and closeness measure at two time points. The results showed that decreased closeness in old relationships at Time 2 predicted overall change to personality profiles. Implications for the link between relationships and self-concept change are discussed.