People, they are a changin’: The links between anticipating change and romantic relationship quality

People’s attitudes, social circumstances, and personalities can change over time. What might anticipating change in oneself and in one’s partner mean for romantic relationships? Two studies showed that expecting congruency in change for the self and the partner was linked to better relationship quality. While anticipating change in either partner by itself was associated with perceiving personal growth, individual-level change was only positively linked to relationship appraisals if both partners were expected to change in similar ways. Expecting a future in which both partners change—or both partners stay the same—facilitated higher current (Studies 1 and 2) and future (Study 2) relationship quality and stability compared to expecting a future in which only one of the partners changes.