Significant other

Significant other (sig ot, sigot, sigoth, SigO, or SO) is a gender-blind, politically correct term to refer to a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming anything about his or her marital status or sexual orientation. It is also vague enough to avoid offence from using a term that an individual might consider inappropriate (e.g. "lover" when he or she considers him a "boyfriend", or her a "girlfriend" when he or she considers her a "life partner"). Nonetheless, some are offended by the implication that persons with whom one is not having a "primary" sexual relationship are "insignificant" or would as a matter of course get lesser consideration and emotional disrespect compared to the "significant" one.

In the United States the term is sometimes used in invitations, e.g. to weddings and office parties. In this context, a person and their significant other might not be cohabiting and might not be engaging in sexual relations. For example, a person's fiancé(e) would be considered a significant other, without any assumptions regarding living arrangements or sexual activity before their marriage. Conversely, it is assumed that some sort of steady connection exists between the invitee and their significant other, i.e. the event for which the invitation is extended won't be their first date.

The first known occurrence of the term was in 1953 by U.S. psychiatrist, Harry Stack Sullivan, a former editor of the journal "Psychiatry", in his posthumously published work, "The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry" [Sullivan 1953: 9] . While the term currently enjoys use and familiarity, many people find the term irritating due to its lack of specifics and adoption by pop culture. Greatest use of the term peaked in the late 80's to mid 90's and has generally declined since then if favor of other terminology as deemed appropriate.

Social science

Its usage in both psychology and sociology 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. In sociology, it describes any person or persons with a strong influence on an individual's self-evaluation, which are important to this individual, as well as reception of particular social norms. This usage is synonymous with the term "relevant other" and can also be found in plural form—"significant others".

In social psychology a significant other is the parent, uncle, grandparent, or teacher - the person that guides and takes care of a child during primary socialization. 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, and after that the significant other is no longer needed, the child moves on to a general other which is not a real person, but an abstract notion of what society deems good or bad.

Notes

References

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ee also

*boyfriend
*girlfriend
*marriage
*engagement
*domestic partnership
*civil union
*POSSLQ