‘being in love’ and, often, ‘divorce/break up’. Secondly, self-concept is how individuals perceive (attributed to the self-schema), identify with, and wish to improve themselves (self-discrepancy) – including an understanding of their own ‘individuality’5.
How does a person’s self-concept change through the course of romantic love?
The three main themes within interpersonal relationships are further supported by Luciano & Orth 6 , who similarly identified the three main stages of a romantic relationship as “Initial relationship, marriage and break-up”, with an emphasis on investigating the levels of self-esteem. Self-esteem and view of self are critical to the make-up of the ‘self-schema’ within self-concept theory. However, before any of these stages occur there can be a question about the extent to which self-concept and identity are found in singlenessproviding a baseline for comparisons to be made. This is because singleness can be seen as a state independent and precursive of the stages of interpersonal romantic relationship development.
by Benjamin Gooddy
In amidst social lockdown and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic the BBC has reported that there are many couples who are still opting to get married at this time1. The Miami Herald2 claim that worldwide downloads of the popular dating apps ‘Tinder’ and ‘Bumble’ have soared. These contemporary stories serve to show how romantic love, and its pursuit, is something many people wish to find. One such reason for why this may be the case may be explained by the changes of an individual’s self-concept throughout the course of romantic love. The influence of romantic love on an individual's selfconcept has been the focus of numerous recent and influential studies and shall be the subject of this essay.
Simpson7 investigated the significance of singleness to self-identity in 37 women who had never been married, via analysis of qualitative interviews, as it appears to become less socially acceptable for a woman to remain ‘single’ as they progress through adulthood; this also occurs for men but to a lesser extent. It was found that the stigma of ‘singleness’ was pervasive to how the women viewed themselves and their actions, though the increased notion of ‘freedom of choice’ was also noted when comparing themselves to individuals in romantic relationships. However, it is important to note that this research did not involve a fully representative sample, so ecological validity has been somewhat limited.
Firstly, it is important to define what is meant by “romantic love”. According to Sternberg’s 3 triangular theory of love, love types rely on the differing ratio balance of commitment, intimacy and passion between individuals. For romantic love, there is an emphasis on intimacy and commitment – with passion remaining important but not as much as the other two. Within ‘interpersonal’ relationships there are five main stages which can be condensed to three themes: “formation, maintenance and dissolution” 4 . For the subject of ‘romantic love,’ these stages correspond to ‘the emergence of romantic love’, 1
5
2
6
Shaw, 2020 Stunson, 2020 3 Steinberg, 1986 4 Levinger, 1983
Lewandowski, Nardone & Raines, 2010 Luciano & Orth, 2017 7 Simpson, 2016
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