Love is not blind: What romantic partners know about our abilities compared to ourselves, our close friends, and our acquaintances

Journal article

Gabriela Hofer, Silvia Macher, A. Neubauer
Journal of Research in Personality, 2022

Cite

APA Click to copy
Hofer, G., Macher, S., & Neubauer, A. (2022). Love is not blind: What romantic partners know about our abilities compared to ourselves, our close friends, and our acquaintances. Journal of Research in Personality.

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Hofer, Gabriela, Silvia Macher, and A. Neubauer. “Love Is Not Blind: What Romantic Partners Know about Our Abilities Compared to Ourselves, Our Close Friends, and Our Acquaintances.” Journal of Research in Personality (2022).

MLA Click to copy
Hofer, Gabriela, et al. “Love Is Not Blind: What Romantic Partners Know about Our Abilities Compared to Ourselves, Our Close Friends, and Our Acquaintances.” Journal of Research in Personality, 2022.

BibTeX Click to copy

@article{gabriela2022a,
  title = {Love is not blind: What romantic partners know about our abilities compared to ourselves, our close friends, and our acquaintances},
  year = {2022},
  journal = {Journal of Research in Personality},
  author = {Hofer, Gabriela and Macher, Silvia and Neubauer, A.}
}

Abstract

How much do our partners, close friends, and acquaintances know about our abilities, as compared to ourselves? This registered report aimed to investigate asymmetries in these perspectives’ knowledge of a person’s verbal, numerical, and spatial intelligence, creativity, and intra- and interpersonal emotional abilities. We collected self-estimates and performance measures of these abilities from 238 targets. Each target’s abilities were also rated by their romantic partner, a close friend, and an acquaintance. Results showed knowledge-asymmetries but also similarities between perspectives. People themselves were at least moderately accurate across all six domains. However, partners achieved similar accuracy and both partners and friends could provide unique insights into some abilities. We discuss these results with regard to Vazire’s self-other knowledge asymmetry model.