What is "relationship self-efficacy"?

• A. Confidence in one's ability to maintain a healthy relationship; higher self-efficacy predicts better communication and persistence.
• B. Ability to predict a partner's personality.
• C. Skill in calculating relationship budgets.
• D. Talent for choosing date spots.

Answer: (A)

Relationship self-efficacy is the belief in your own ability to carry out the actions needed to keep a romantic relationship healthy. It’s about confidence in handling key relationship tasks—like communicating openly, resolving conflicts, and staying engaged even when challenges arise. When someone has higher relationship self-efficacy, they’re more likely to use constructive communication, repair ruptures, and persist in investing effort to maintain the relationship, which tends to lead to better outcomes over time.

The best answer captures this idea by describing confidence in maintaining a healthy relationship and the link to better communication and persistence. The other options miss this core focus: predicting a partner’s personality, budgeting, or choosing date spots are not about one’s belief in their capacity to sustain relationship health.