The Self-Expansion Model of Motivation and Cognition in Close Relationships

When “we” changes “me”

“…Self-expansion occurs when individuals add new, or augment existing, positive self-concept content. Individuals expand their sense of self when they acquire new identities, cultivate new perspectives, enhance their capabilities, and gain resources (Aron, Lewandowski, Mashek, & Aron, 2013;Mattingly & Lewandowski, 2014a;Mattingly et al, 2014). Often self-expansion occurs when relationship partners integrate aspects of each other into their own self-concepts (Aron et al, 2004; though for notable nonrelational examples, see Mattingly & Lewandowski, 2013a, 2013b, 2014bMcIntyre, Mattingly, Lewandowski, & Simpson, 2014) and/or through engaging in shared novel and interesting activities (Aron, Norman, Aron, McKenna, & Heyman, 2000;Reissman, Aron, & Bergen, 1993).…”

Climbing Diotima's Mountain: Marriage and Achieving Our Highest Goals

“…As researchers who have focused on relationship processes and on self-expansion (e.g., A. Aron & Aron, 1986;A. Aron, Lewandowski, Mashek, & Aron, 2013), our thinking was particularly inspired by the largely novel idea of considering the role of marriage in leading to selfactualization, in Maslow's sense, in the context of today's U.S. lifestyles, which appear to give marriage even less "oxygen" for doing this job.…”

Predicting longitudinal trajectories of academic passion in first-year university students

“…This research supported this proposition, as participants who reported higher levels of overlap between academics and their identities were more likely to belong to trajectories with higher levels of overall passion quantity. The interpersonal relationship literature also recommends that passion for a romantic partner can be maintained or enhanced by avoiding boredom in the relationship, keeping the relationship exciting by violating expectations, and seeing one's partner as an opportunity for self-expansion (e.g., Aron et al, 2013). We found that these factors also predicted passion quantity for academics.…”

“…Similar to this notion is the self-expansion model (Aron & Aron, 1986), which outlines that experiences of rapid self-expansion lead to increases in passion for others. Once again, the self-expansion model identifies that engaging in novel and challenging activities with a partner can lead to a sense of exhilaration and passion (Aron & Aron, 1986;Aron, Lewandowski, Mashek, & Aron, 2013). Others have also emphasized the importance of keeping relationships fresh, new, and exciting in order to keep the passion alive with romantic partners (e.g., Berscheid & Ammazzalorso, 2001;Tsapelas, Aron, & Orbuch, 2009).…”