Relational-interdependent self-construal

Relational-interdependent self-construal (RISC) refers to the tendency to think of oneself in terms of close relationships. We examined how self-construal predicted cognitions and affect within friendships. When listing friends, individuals named friends whom they perceived to be similar to the self in RISC (Study 1), but this was not because it was harder to think of perceived dissimilar friends (Studies 1 and 2). However, perceptions of the friend’s RISC did not match the friend’s self-rating (Study 3). In regards to affect, all individuals reported higher friendship quality with perceived high RISC friends. These findings support the similarity-attraction hypothesis for individuals high in RISC. However, for individuals low in RISC, it is dissimilarity (i.e., high RISC friend) that predicts friendship quality.