THE BENEFITS OF POSITIVE ILLUSIONS - IDEALIZATION AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF SATISFACTION IN CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS

It is proposed that satisfaction is associated with idealistic, rather than realistic, perceptions of one's partner. To provide baselines fo r assessing relationship illusions, both members of married and dating heterosexual couples were asked to rate themselves and their partners on a variety of interpersonal attributes. Participants also rated the typical and ideal partner on these attributes. Path analyses revealed that individuals' impressions of their partners were more a mirror of their self-images and ideals than a reflection of their partners' sel f-reported attributes. Overall, intimates saw their partners in a more positive light than their partners saw themselves. Furthermore, these idealized constructions predicted greater satisfaction. Individuals w ere happier in their relationships when they idealized their partners and their partners idealized them. Taken together, these results sugge st that a certain degree of idealization or illusion may be a critical feature of satisfying dating and even marital relationships.