Knowledge Bank

Self-esteem and motivational goals shape relationships over time (Crocker & Canevello, 2008). People high in self-esteem believe that they are worthy relationship partners and trust in their partners’ regard for them. Those high in compassionate goals wish to be a supportive and constructive force in relationships, feel a greater responsibility to others, and tend to view their relationships as non-zero-sum (Crocker & Canevello, 2008). Those high in self-image goals wish to construct and defend a desirable public image of themselves and tend to view relationships as zero-sum (Crocker & Canevello, 2008). The present study examines self-esteem, compassionate goals, and self-image goals in the context of current romantic relationships and had two main aims. First, we examined the effects of self-esteem, compassionate goals, and self-image goals on both constructive approaches to problems and defensive responses to conflict. Second, we analyzed whether nonzero-sum beliefs accounted for these associations. We predicted that compassionate and self-image goals would explain unique variance in constructive approaches to problems and defensive responses to conflict distinct from self-esteem and that nonzero-sum beliefs would account for these effects. Analysis revealed that self-esteem, compassionate goals, and self-image goals each have unique indirect effects on both defensive responses to conflict and constructive approaches to problems through nonzero-sum beliefs, as well as unique direct effects on defensive responses and constructive approaches that are not explained by nonzero-sum beliefs.