ROMANTIC INVOLVEMENT, SELF-DISCREPANCY, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING - A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION

In this study, we explored the relation between romantic involvement s tatus, actual/ideal self-discrepancy, and psychological well-being. We hypothesized that romantically involved individuals would report bein g closer to their ideal selves than would romantically uninvolved indi viduals. We also hypothesized that the reduced self-discrepancy report ed by romantically involved individuals would be related to their expe riencing higher levels of psychological well-being in comparison to ro mantically uninvolved individuals. Romantically involved and romantica lly uninvolved subjects rated their actual selves, closeness to their ideal selves, and psychological well-being. Results were consistent wi th both hypotheses. Although romantically involved and romantically un involved subjects did not differ in ratings of their actual selves, ro mantically involved subjects reported being significantly closer to th eir ideal selves. Furthermore, romantically involved subjects tended t o report higher psychological well-being.