
Doing something for your partner doesn’t guarantee they’ll realize you made a sacrifice.
Two daily studies involving romantic couples found that sacrifices were about as likely to be missed as accurately noticed.
People also sometimes believed their partner had sacrificed something when the partner reported that they hadn’t.
This shows how differently two people can experience the exact same relationship.
If an effort matters to you, assuming your partner automatically noticed it may lead to disappointment.
© Society for Personality and Social Psychology