The current study analyzes self-esteem and the apparent mood of one’s partner as predictors of perceived responsibility, level of felt rejection, and relationship satisfaction in romantic relationships. The study hypothesizes that ambivalence will act as a moderating variable between self-esteem and romantic relationship outcomes. Previous research on the topic suggests that self-esteem is associated with how participants react to their romantic partner when they are in a specific mood. The current study will be one of the first to examine how ambivalence affects self-esteem’s effect on romantic relationships. The results replicate previous research, showing that self-esteem interacts with partner’s mood to predict perceived responsibility. Results also show that level of rejection and relationship satisfaction are associated with self-esteem. Ambivalence was not a significant moderator of these effects. Additionally, self-concept clarity was a significant predictor of how responsible participants felt when their romantic partner was in a certain mood.
Keywords: ambivalence, romantic relationships, self-esteem, self-concept clarity, responsibility, rejection, satisfactio
