Perceiving greater commitment increases selfish behaviors among disagreeable people

Perceiving that a partner is highly committed tends to benefit close relationships. However, there may be drawbacks to perceiving that a partner is committed. Considering high commitment may signal that a partner is unlikely to leave the relationship, people may feel more comfortable behaving in a selfish manner to the extent that they perceive that their partner is highly committed to the relationship. This may be particularly likely for people who are low in agreeableness. Specifically, I hypothesized that perceiving that one’s partner is committed will be associated with greater selfish behaviors toward that partner among people who are low in agreeableness, but associated with less selfish behavior among people who are high in agreeableness. Two initial studies supported these predictions. In Study 3, two hundred and forty-nine undergraduate participants (126 couples) completed an evaluative priming task and received false feedback based on their partner’s responses suggesting that their partners were either high or low in commitment. Participants then engaged in a noise blast task that served as an indicator of selfishness and completed a questionnaire assessing the likelihood that they would engage in selfish relationship behaviors. Results demonstrated that perceiving that a partner is highly committed resulted in more selfish behavior among disagreeable participants, but less selfish behavior among agreeable participants. Together, these results suggest that signaling commitment to disagreeable partners may backfire in romantic relationships