Sealed with certainty

The role of need for closure in relationship commitment

Bibliographic Data

ID2931384
AuthorsOvgun Ses (0000-0003-4624-3537, University of Essex, corresponding author), Gul Gunaydin (0000-0003-0490-4528, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Psychology Program, Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey), Emre Selcuk (0000-0002-2955-4221, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Psychology Program, Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey), Esra Ascigil (0000-0002-4274-0993, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Psychology Program, Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey)
Year2025
Volume42
Issue8
Pages2188-2211
Publication date2025-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Social and Personal Relationships (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0265-4075 • E-ISSN: 1460-3608
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/02654075251337912
OpenAlexW4409951720
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited61

Decision making is a fundamental aspect of relationships, as romantic partners often evaluate costs and benefits of their relationship and contemplate whether to maintain it. A key factor that has repeatedly been shown to influence decision-making processes is need for closure, that is, the desire to quickly obtain a definitive answer or solution. Individuals who strongly desire closure prefer the status quo, seek familiarity, and dislike uncertainty, which might strengthen their intention to maintain an enduring relationship. Across five studies recruiting university students and community samples, we explored, for the first time, the role of need for closure in relationship commitment. In Study 1, individuals with a higher need for closure reported greater commitment to their romantic relationships. Studies 2a and 2b replicated these findings and showed that relationship satisfaction and investment, but not alternative quality, may explain the link between need for closure and commitment. Study 3 revealed that need for closure was linked with willingness to sacrifice-a downstream consequence of commitment. Using a three-wave longitudinal design, Study 4 found that within-person variation in need for closure was small, and need for closure explained mainly between- (but not within-) person differences in commitment. This study failed to replicate the mediating role of relationship satisfaction and investment observed in Studies 2a and 2b, thereby indicating caution in interpreting mechanisms suggested by our prior studies. Overall, the findings demonstrated a consistent between-person association of need for closure with relationship commitment, and revealed important research avenues to further understand how individual differences in decision making predict commitment

Certainty · Closure (psychology · Epistemology · Political science · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Law · Personality Traits and Psychology · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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Open DOIOpen Access