Self-partner inclusion predicts performance of romantically involved individuals in a body-scaled action-anticipation task

Abstract

Previous research has shown that romantic relationships can lead to the cognitive inclusion of a romantic partner into one’s own self-representation, resulting in blurred boundaries between self and intimate other. Recent work suggests that this self-other integration process encompasses the two dimensions of the self–the conceptual and the bodily self. In line with this, it has been proposed that romantic love is associated with cognitive states that blur or reduce the saliency of self-boundaries in the bodily domain. The present study tested this hypothesis by investigating the influence of the self-other integration process in romantic love on passability judgments of door-like apertures, an action-anticipation task that rests on the representation of bodily boundaries. Romantically involved and single participants estimated whether they could pass through apertures of different widths. Moreover, inclusion of romantic partner in the self was assessed using the Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) scale. The pattern of correlation and the ratio between participants’ shoulder width and aperture judgments did not differ between romantically involved participants and singles. However, our results revealed that in romantically involved participants, the relationship between individuals’ shoulder width and aperture judgements was moderated by IOS scores. A greater inclusion of romantic partner in the self was associated with a weaker prediction of aperture judgment by participants’ shoulder width. A similar moderating effect of the intensity of romantic feelings (as measured by the passionate love scale) on shoulder width-aperture judgment relationship was found. IOS scores, but not romantic feelings, also moderated aperture judgments made for another individual (third person perspective). Together, these findings are consistent with the view that inclusion of romantic partner in the self triggers cognitive states affecting self-boundaries in the bodily domain.

Emophilia: psychometric properties of the emotional promiscuity scale and its association with personality traits, unfaithfulness, and romantic relationships in a Scandinavian sample

“…Still, even if stability is established, emophilia might instead be a consequence of a range of other factors, some of which might be rather stable. Important factors which have been found to predict emophilia or related constructs include attachment style (Tosun et al, 2021;Frowijn et al, 2022), cognitive factors (e.g., self-representation; Quintard et al, 2020;Bouquet et al, 2021), and loneliness (Goh et al, 2023). Further, it is reasonable to expect that both life stage, in terms of age and relationship status/relationship satisfaction, and life experiences, in particular in the romantic domain, may affect how easily and often one falls in love.…”