A growing body of literature suggests that specific markers of relationship quality are meaningfully linked to health outcomes. We tested whether relational self‐expansion potential might be one of these markers in cross‐sectional samples of individuals and romantic couples. Study 1 found that greater self‐expansion potential was linked to better perceived physical health via both higher positive affect (PA) and lower negative affect (NA). Study 2 replicated these findings for PA (but not NA) and revealed both actor and partner effects of self‐expansion potential. Results remained robust when statistically accounting for gender, age, body mass index, agreeableness, neuroticism, and perceived partner responsiveness. These findings identify a new relationship‐level “active ingredient” associated with health and have implications for future physical health studies.

中文翻译：

---

关系自我扩展潜力，影响力和感知健康之间的个人和二元关系

越来越多的文献表明，关系质量的特定标记与健康结局有着有意义的联系。我们测试了个人和浪漫情侣的横断面样本中，关系自我扩展潜力是否可能是这些标志之一。研究1发现，更高的自我扩张潜能与更高的积极影响（PA）和更低的负面影响（NA）相关，可以更好地感知身体健康。研究2重复了PA的这些发现（但没有NA），并揭示了自我扩展潜能的参与者和伴侣效应。在统计学上考虑性别，年龄，体重指数，宜人性，神经质和对伴侣的反应能力时，结果仍然很可靠。