The association between self-concealment from one's partner and relationship well-being

In two studies the authors examined whether self-concealment from one's partner is associated with lower relationship well-being. in study 1,participants who were in a romantic relationship (n = 165) completed an online survey. self-concealment from one's partner was associated with lower relationship satisfaction and commitment. furthermore,results were consistent with this relationship being mediated by autonomy and relatedness needs. in study 2,couples (n = 50) completed daily records for 14 consecutive days. multilevel analyses indicated that daily self-concealment from one's partner was associated with daily relationship satisfaction,commitment,and conflict. lagged analyses also showed that self-concealment from one's partner predicted lower relationship well-being on the following day. moreover,results supported that thwarted basic needs mediated the association between daily self-concealment and relationship well-being. finally,actor-partner interdependence model over time analyses indicated that,apart from one's own self-concealment,one's partner's self-concealment was associated negatively with one's own relationship well-being. © 2012 society for personality and social psychology,inc.