Dating commitment and within-person perceptual congruency

Rogers (1959) developed an interpersonal congruency model that suggests the greater the degree of agreement among within-person perceptions of the self and a role partner, the more adjusted and satisfied with a relationship one would be. American college students were categorized as occasional, steady or engaged daters and they provided ratings of self and partner on dimensions of perceived dating satisfaction, personal integrity, financial influence, and role of sexuality in the relationship. Congruency measures were then derived which allowed the assessment of cognitive agreement in perceived self/partner perceptions. As predicted, respondents in the Engaged category displayed greater congruency in within-person perceptions than did those in the Occasional and Steady dating groups. There was also a tendency for women to display more within-person congruency than men, particularly on matters involving finances and sex.