The term significant other (SO) has different uses in psychology and colloquial language.

Colloquially Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation am ...

, "significant other" is used as a gender-neutral term for a person's partner in an

intimate relationship An intimate relationship is an interpersonal relationship that involves emotional or physical closeness between people and may include sexual intimacy and feelings of romance or love. Intimate relationships are interdependent, and the member ...

without disclosing or presuming anything about

marital status Civil status, or marital status, are the distinct options that describe a person's relationship with a significant other. '' Married'', '' single'', '' divorced'', and ''widowed'' are examples of civil status. ''Civil status'' and ''marital st ...

, relationship status,

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

, or

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

. Synonyms with similar properties include sweetheart, other half, better half,

spouse A spouse is a significant other in a marriage. A female spouse is called a wife while a male spouse is called a husband. Married The legal status of a spouse, and the specific rights and obligations associated with that status, vary signific ...

domestic partner A domestic partnership is an intimate relationship between people, usually couples, who cohabitation, live together and share a common domestic life but who are not marriage, married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partner ...

, lover, paramour, soulmate, and life partner.

Scientific use

Its usage in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

is very different from its colloquial use. In psychology, a significant other is any person who has great importance to an individual's life or

well-being Well-being is what is Intrinsic value (ethics), ultimately good for a person. Also called "welfare" and "quality of life", it is a measure of how well life is going for someone. It is a central goal of many individual and societal endeavors. ...

. In sociology, it describes any person or persons with a strong influence on an individual's

self-concept In the psychology of self, one's self-concept (also called self-construction, self-identity, self-perspective or self-structure) is a collection of beliefs about oneself. Generally, self-concept embodies the answer to the question ''"Who am I? ...

. Although the influence of significant others on individuals was long theorized, the first actual measurements of the influence of significant others on individuals were made by Archie O. Haller, Edward L. Fink, and Joseph Woelfel at the University of Wisconsin. Haller, Fink, and Woelfel are associates of the

Wisconsin model The Wisconsin model of socio-economic attainment is a model that describes and explains an individual's social mobility and its economic, social, and psychological determinants. The logistics of this model are primarily attributed to William H. S ...

of status attainment. They surveyed 100 Wisconsin adolescents, measured their educational and occupational aspirations, and identified the set of other individuals who communicated with the students and served as examples for them. They then contacted the significant others directly measured their expectations for the adolescent's educational and occupational attainments, and calculated the impact of these expectations on the aspirations of the students. Results of the research showed that the expectations of significant others were the single most potent influences on the student's aspirations. This usage is synonymous with the term "relevant other" and can also be found in plural form, "significant others". In

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

, a significant other is an "insulating person", uncle/aunt, grandparent, guardian, or teacher – the person who guides and takes care of a child during primary

socialization In sociology, socialization (also socialisation – see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is the process of Internalisation (sociology), internalizing the Norm (social), norm ...

. The significant other protects, rewards, and punishes the child as a way of aiding the child's development. This usually takes about six or seven years, after which the significant other is no longer needed, and the child moves on to a general "other" which is not a real person, but an abstract notion of what

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

deems good or bad.

First use

The first known use of the terms "significant other person" and "significant other people" is by the U.S.

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

Harry Stack Sullivan Herbert "Harry" Stack Sullivan (February 21, 1892 – January 14, 1949) was an American neo-Freudian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who held that "personality can never be isolated from the complex interpersonal relationships in which person liv ...

in the article "Conceptions of Modern Psychiatry" in the journal: ''Psychiatry: Journal of the Biology and Pathology of Interpersonal Relations'', published in 1940. The phrase was popularised in the United States by Armistead Maupin's 1987 book '' Significant Others'', and in the UK by the 1989 TV series ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...

'', in which

Derek Trotter Derek Edward Trotter, more commonly known as Del Boy, is a fictional character from the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'' and one of the main characters of its spinoff series, '' Rock & Chips''. He was played by David Jason in the original ...

uses the phrase a number of times when referring to his long-term partner

Raquel Turner Rachel "Raquel" Turner (formerly Slater; born 4 June 1957See ) is a fictional character from the BBC television sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', in which she is Del Boy's long-term partner. She is portrayed by Tessa Peake-Jones. Character cre ...

References

External links

{{Interpersonal relationships footer Marriage, unions and partnerships Social philosophy Gender-neutral language

Scientific use

First use

See also

References

External links