Introduction:

Couple relationships affect the diversity, size and content of the self-concept. The model of Mattingly et al. (2014), coming from an individualistic culture, focuses on explaining the effects of a romantic relationship on self-concept. The two-dimensional model explains the increase and decrease (direction) in the size and diversity of the self-concept and the positive or negative change (valence) in the content of the self-concept. This model provides four factors by which these changes can be analyzed: Self-Expansion, Self-contraction, Self-pruning and Self-adulteration.

Objective:

This research seeks evidence of validity and reliability in the Mexican population of the Relational Self-Change Scale, a scale that measures the two-dimensional model proposed by Mattingly.

Method:

Using a sample of 210 people, an exploratory factor analysis based on polychoric correlations and the use of a multidimensional scaling analysis was performed. Subsequently, using a sample of 242 participants, a conformational factor analysis was carried out to contrast the original solution and the one obtained in this research.

Results:

The different analyses performed show evidence of only two factors, one positive and one negative, which is a more parsimonious model to explain the changes in self-concept due to the couple relationship.

Discussion:

It seems that the Mexican population, which is considered to be a collectivist culture, tends to conceptualize the phenomenon of self-expansion in a different way.

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