Relationship beliefs: their association with entering into a relationship, their change over time and with transitions in relationship status.

Abstract

Since the number of single individuals grows with the years, it seems an important endeavour to understand the psychological factors that are involved in instigating and entering into a romantic relationship. Therefore, the primary goal of the present study was to examine whether irrational (as measured with the Relationship Belief Questionnaire) and anxious (as measured with the Fear of Close and Personal Relationships Questionnaire) relationship beliefs are associated with entering into a relationship. The second goal of this study was to examine whether irrational and anxious relationship beliefs change with the passage of time and with transitions in relationship status. Data from two measurement times (with an interval of one year) from 146 single individuals (mean age 34.3 years) was analyzed (using MANOVA’s and t-tests) to examine these issues. We found that long-term single individuals have more or less the same levels of irrational and anxious relationship beliefs, compared to the single individuals who have entered into a relationship at Time 1. In accordance with our expectations, we found that irrational and anxious relationship beliefs remained stable over time. Contrary to our expectations, we found that irrational and anxious relationship beliefs do not change after the first three months of a relationship. The present study is a first step in this research area, and we hope that these initial findings motivate other researchers to dig deeper and broader into the psychological factors that might be involved in instigating and entering into a romantic relationship.