Social benefits of humility: Initiating and maintaining romantic relationships

Abstract

Previous research has highlighted the social nature of humility. In three studies, we provide evidence that humility facilitates the initiation and maintenance of romantic relationships. In Study 1, very humble potential dating partners, relative to less humble partners, were rated more favorably and were more likely to elicit intentions to initiate a romantic relationship. Study 2 was a conceptual replication of Study 1 that provided evidence that participants find humble potential dating partners more attractive than arrogant dating partners. In Study 3, we examined perceptions of humility in participants in proximal or long-distance relationships. We found that humility buffers against unforgiveness in long-distant relationships. Although long-distance relationships were associated with greater unforgiveness, this effect was only present when partners were viewed as having low humility. Together, these findings highlight the social benefits of humility in initiating and maintaining romantic relationships.

Keywords:

• humility
• relationships
• romantic
• forgiveness

Funding

We would like to acknowledge the generous financial support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation [grant number 14979], Relational Humility: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Study of Humility.