This study investigated the relationship between dysphoria and two distinct kinds of relationship-related loss: relationship loss and loss of self in a relationship. Three models were evaluated. The first model predicts that only intimate relationship loss will be associated with increased dysphoria. The second model predicts that only loss of self will be associated with increased dysphoria. The third model predicts that an interaction between relationship loss and self-loss will be associated with greater dysphoria. Undergraduates (N= 257) completed measures of relationship loss, self-loss, and two dysphoria measures. For both men and women, the study and an independent replication (N= 172) clearly supported the self-loss model and not the alternatives.
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