Abstract
We know little about the relationships that matter to emerging adults.
This preregistered report elaborates our plan to survey 200 emerging
adults (approximately half male) to better understand the role of
significant others. First, we plan to ask emerging adults to list
individuals who matter and we will code the open-ended text for
relationship type. Second, we will use an adapted version of Schneck’s
(2009) Mattering Scale to assess mattering among five common close
relationships (i.e., mother figure, father figure, partner, best friend,
sibling). We predict that mattering of partner and best friend will be
highest, mothers will matter more than fathers, and siblings will matter
least. We hypothesize failing to mention a relationship in the
open-ended portion will be related to lower mattering of that
relationship. Finally, we anticipate better well being and less
loneliness when the list of those who matter is longer and when
significant others matter more.