Individual Differences In The Lover-Reference Effect

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 individual differences in intimacy, relative intimacy and self-construal play roles in the lover-reference effect.In the first experiment, four reference conditions(Self, Lover, Luxun, semantic) was arranged, and intimacy was measured by genuine intimacy scale, so as to investigate the role of the intimacy in the lover-reference effect. While in the second experiment, three intimate others (Lover, Mother, Best friend) were arranged among four reference conditions (Self, Lover, Mother, Best friend), and intimacy was measured by genuine intimacy scale and IOS scale, so as to investigate the roles of the intimacy, relative intimacy and self-construal in the lover-reference effect.The results of the first experiment revealed that the group with a high degree of intimacy showed a lover-reference effect, while the group with a low degree of intimacy did not. The results of the second experiment revealed that: (1) Only when intimacy to lover was high and higher than other person, could the lover-reference effect emerge. When intimacy to lover was high but still lower than other persons, or the intimacy of lover was low, no lover-reference effect was found; (2) On the whole, the group with independent selves did not show the lover-reference effect, while the group with interdependent selves showed the lover-reference effect; (3) However, when intimacy to lover was high and higher than other person, the lover-reference effect was found in both independent and interdependent groups, and when intimacy to lover was high but still lower than other persons, or the intimacy of lover was low, no lover-reference effect was found in neither group. In conclusion, the lover-reference effect could be affected by both of intimacy and relative intimacy: Only when intimacy to lover was high and higher than other person, could the lover-reference effect emerge; The lover-reference effect could also be affected by the individual differences in self-construal, and both of the independent and the interdependent's lover-reference effect could be further affected by the individual differences in intimacy conditions. The results above suggested that future research related to the inclusion of intimate others in an individual's self-construal should consider the individual differences in intimacy, relative intimacy and self-construal.