Trajectories of change in physical aggression and marital satisfaction.

Physical aggression and marital satisfaction were assessed in 172 newlywed couples annually over the first 4 years of marriage to examine (a) stability of aggression over time and (b) the degree to which fluctuations in aggression precede versus follow fluctuations in marital satisfaction. The stability of aggression varied as a function of initial levels of severity; spouses who were most aggressive early in marriage had greater fluctuations in aggression. Rates of change in aggression predicted changes in satisfaction more than dissatisfaction predicted aggression. Husbands' physical aggression predicted marital discord, whereas wives' aggression predicted marital dissolution. By indicating that aggression (a) is a precursor to adverse marital outcomes and (b) varies across spouses in initial levels and in patterns of temporal change, the present findings highlight the need to understand the contextual factors that govern within-person and within-couple fluctuations in intimate violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol and aggressive personality styles: Potentiators of serious physical aggression against wives?

This study examined the relationship between alcohol consumption and marital aggression in a community sample (N?=?272) assessed in a longitudinal study at premarriage and at 6, 18, and 30 months of marriage. Participants completed self-report measures of alcohol problems and total alcohol consumption, aggressive personality style, marital aggression, marital adjustment, and divorce potential. Husbands' alcohol problems were associated with serious aggression at premarriage and at 6 months. Alcohol use interacted with aggressive personality traits in predicting aggression at 18 months. Husbands' premarital aggression, but not alcohol problems, was predictive of wives' future steps toward divorce and lower marital adjustment. Results are discussed in relation to the marital mediational model of alcohol and aggression in marriage and to the need to account for developmental changes in the relation between alcohol and aggression during the early years of marriage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological aggression predicts physical aggression in early marriage.

Psychological aggression by self and partner, physical aggression by the partner, and marital dissatisfaction were examined as longitudinal predictors of first instances of physical aggression during marriage. Subjects who were not physically aggressive at a premarital assessment were selected from a sample of 393 engaged couples. Couples participated in three subsequent assessments over the first 30 months of marriage. As hypothesized, individuals' own psychological aggression predicted their initial incidents of physical aggression in marriage. Psychological aggression by their partners also predicted initial incidents of physical aggression. Prior physical aggression by their partners was inconsistently associated with first instances of physical aggression. Contrary to our hypothesis, previous levels of marital dissatisfaction did not predict initial incidents of physical aggression. These findings were consistent across sexes. The results underscore the progression from psychological to physical abuse and have clear implications for understanding the development and prevention of interspousal aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative life events, marital interaction, and the longitudinal course of newlywed marriage

Life events and problem-solving behavior were examined relative to longitudinal change in depressive symptoms and marital adjustment over 18 months in 60 newlywed couples. Spouses' problem-solving behavior moderated, but did not mediate, the relationship between life events and adjustment. Some behaviors contributed to spouses being more resilient to life events, and some behaviors made spouses more vulnerable. In particular, wives' anger facilitated their adjustment to major and interpersonal events such that their depressive symptoms declined and their marital satisfaction increased. Husbands' humor contributed to marital instability when spouses reported more major events. The results further specify the vulnerability-stress-adaptation model of marriage and expand on the role of behavior in marriage.     

Axis II symptomatology, depression, and life stress during the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

This study examined 2 models of the relationship between personality disorder symptomatology and depression, incorporating life stress as an intervening variable. In a community sample of late adolescent women, symptoms of Cluster B disorders predicted interpersonal chronic stress and self-generated episodic stress over 2 years, controlling for initial depression. Cluster A symptoms also predicted subsequent chronic interpersonal stress, over initial depression. Cluster C pathology did not predict subsequent stress. Personality disorder symptomatology was also associated with partner reported relationship dissatisfaction. Support was found for a mediation model whereby women with higher levels of initial personality disturbance in Clusters A and B generated excessive amounts of episodic stress and interpersonal chronic stress in the next 2 years, which, in turn, increased vulnerability for depressive symptoms. A moderation model, whereby the presence of greater personality disorder symptoms would increase the likelihood of depression in response to stress, was not supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability of emotion experiences and their relations to traits of personality.

Presents a theoretical framework for studying emotion–personality relations and an empirical study of the stability of 88 normal middle-class mothers' emotion experiences and their relations to personality during the 3 yrs after childbirth. Ss completed the Differential Emotions Scale (DES), Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire, D. N. Jackson's Personality Research Form, and M. Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale. The DES demonstrated stability over 3 yrs. There was individual stability despite changes in group means during the postpartum period. Positive emotionality, as well as the discrete emotions of interest, enjoyment, and shyness, predicted extraversion. Negative emotionality and the discrete negative emotions were significant predictors of neuroticism. Positive emotionality was inversely related to neuroticism. There were expectable correlations among specific emotions and primary traits of personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal investigation of stress spillover in marriage: Does spousal support adequacy buffer the effects?

Stress spillover in marriage was examined within a stress-buffering conceptual framework in a multiwave, longitudinal sample of newlywed husbands and wives (N = 101 couples). Spousal support, chronic role strain, and marital satisfaction were assessed 4 times over 3 years and analyzed via actor-partner interdependence model and growth curve analytic techniques. Greater escalation in husbands' role strain over the first 3 years of marriage was associated with steeper declines in their marital satisfaction regardless of the adequacy of spousal support provided by their wives. In contrast, greater escalation in husbands' and wives' role strain was associated with significantly less marital decline for wives, and these links were bolstered when husbands provided wives with more adequate support. The present study is one of the first to explicate the underlying processes through which role strain and spousal support facilitate and mitigate the developmental course of marital satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Husbands' and Wives' Marital Adjustment, Verbal Aggression, and Physical Aggression as Longitudinal Predictors of Physical Aggression in Early Marriage.

Marital adjustment, verbal aggression, and physical aggression have long been associated in the marital literature, but the nature of their associations remains unclear. In this study, the authors examined these 3 constructs as risk factors for physical aggression during the first 2 years of marriage in 634 couples recruited as they applied for marriage licenses. Couples completed assessments at the time of marriage and at their 1st and 2nd anniversaries. Results of path analyses suggest that prior verbal aggression and physical aggression by both partners are important longitudinal predictors of physical aggression but do not support the role of marital adjustment as a unique predictor of subsequent physical aggression. Contrary to prior research, results also failed to support physical aggression as a unique predictor of marital adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality influences on change in smoking behavior.

Objective: To investigate associations between personality traits in early adulthood (and changes in them) and change in smoking status. Design: Prospective, longitudinal study of a general-population birth cohort. Main Outcome Measures: We measured smoking at ages 18, 26, and 32, and personality at ages 18 and 26 using the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (Tellegen & Waller, in press). We assessed personality’s ability to predict future smoking, and assessed how changes in personality traits relate to change in smoking status. Results: Higher aggression and alienation at age 18 predicted smoking at 26; higher self-control and traditionalism at age 18 predicted nonsmoking at 26; and higher alienation at age 26 predicted persistence of smoking to age 32. Personality change between 18 and 26 was associated with change in smoking behavior; those who stopped smoking decreased more than others in negative emotionality and increased more in constraint. Conclusion: These findings suggest that interventions fostering personality change may be effective in reducing smoking and indicate appropriate targets for such antismoking interventions in young people. In particular, high alienation predicted smoking persistence, perhaps due to resistance to existing antismoking messages; we discuss approaches that may overcome this. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and obesity across the adult life span.

Personality traits contribute to health outcomes, in part through their association with major controllable risk factors, such as obesity. Body weight, in turn, reflects our behaviors and lifestyle and contributes to the way we perceive ourselves and others. In this study, the authors use data from a large (N = 1,988) longitudinal study that spanned more than 50 years to examine how personality traits are associated with multiple measures of adiposity and with fluctuations in body mass index (BMI). Using 14,531 anthropometric assessments, the authors modeled the trajectory of BMI across adulthood and tested whether personality predicted its rate of change. Measured concurrently, participants higher on Neuroticism or Extraversion or lower on Conscientiousness had higher BMI; these associations replicated across body fat, waist, and hip circumference. The strongest association was found for the impulsivity facet: Participants who scored in the top 10% of impulsivity weighed, on average, 11Kg more than those in the bottom 10%. Longitudinally, high Neuroticism and low Conscientiousness, and the facets of these traits related to difficulty with impulse control, were associated with weight fluctuations, measured as the variability in weight over time. Finally, low Agreeableness and impulsivity-related traits predicted a greater increase in BMI across the adult life span. BMI was mostly unrelated to change in personality traits. Personality traits are defined by cognitive, emotional, and behavioral patterns that likely contribute to unhealthy weight and difficulties with weight management. Such associations may elucidate the role of personality traits in disease progression and may help to design more effective interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex typing and division of labor as determinants of marital change across the transition to parenthood.

Examined the proposition that wives who describe their personality in ways that deviate from sex stereotypes will become less positive and more negative about their marriage from before to after they become mothers, particularly when the transition to parenthood is accompanied by an increase in the traditionalism of marital roles. 61 couples were studied longitudinally from the last trimester of pregnancy through the 3rd postpartum month. The wives (mean age 26.5 yrs) completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire and several questionnaires assessing the marital relationship at both times of measurement. Results reveal that the more division of labor changed toward traditionalism, the greater the decline in wives' evaluations of the positive aspects of marriage. Changes in wives' evaluations of both positive and negative aspects of marriage were significantly predicted by the interaction of the wives' expressivity and changes toward increased traditionalism in division of labor. Additional analyses showed that wives who did not ascribe female sex-typed attributes to themselves (relative to those who see themselves in sex-stereotyped ways) were more apt to evaluate their marriage less favorably from before to after parenthood when roles shifted toward greater traditionalism. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The context of aggressive behavior in marriage: A longitudinal study of newlyweds.

Under what circumstances are spouses more or less likely to engage in aggressive behaviors? To address this question, the current study drew on multiple longitudinal assessments of 1st-married newlyweds to examine correlates of within-subject variability in aggressive behavior. Controlling for marital satisfaction, the authors found that spouses were more likely to engage in physical aggression at times when they engaged in higher levels of psychological aggression. Additionally, husbands reporting higher levels of chronic stress were more likely to engage in physical aggression overall and were more likely to engage in physical aggression when they were experiencing higher than average levels of acute stress. These results highlight how demands and supports in the context external to a marriage may affect processes within the marriage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical aggression and marital dysfunction: A longitudinal analysis.

Shortly after marriage, 56 couples provided data on physical aggression and other predictors of marital adjustment. At 6-month intervals over the next 4 years, spouses reported on their marital quality and stability. Results indicated that marital dysfunction was more common among aggressive than among nonaggressive couples (70% vs. 38%) and among severely aggressive than among moderately aggressive couples (93% vs. 46%). Aggression remained a reliable predictor of marital outcomes after the authors controlled for stressful events and negative communication. These findings help to refine developmental models of marital dysfunction, which often overlook the role of aggression, and can provide information for prevention programs for marital distress, which typically do not distinguish between aggressive and nonaggressive couples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The drinking partnership and marital satisfaction: The longitudinal influence of discrepant drinking.

The objective was to determine whether discrepancies between husbands' and wives' past-year heavy drinking predicted decreased marital satisfaction over time. Participants (N = 634) were recruited at the time they applied for their marriage licenses. Couples completed questionnaires about their alcohol use and marital satisfaction at the time of marriage and again at their 1st and 2nd anniversaries. Generalized estimating equation models were used to evaluate the association between discrepancies in husbands' and wives' heavy drinking in the year prior to marriage and marital satisfaction at the 1st wedding anniversary and the association between discrepancies in heavy alcohol use in the 1st year of marriage and marital satisfaction at the 2nd wedding anniversary. In these prospective time-lagged analyses, discrepancies in husbands' and wives' heavy drinking predicted decreased marital satisfaction over time while controlling for heavy drinking. Over time, these couples may be at greater risk for decreased marital functioning that may lead to relationship dissolution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Husbands' Influence on Wives' Drinking: Testing a Relationship Motivation Model in the Early Years of Marriage.

Previous research indicates that husbands' drinking before marriage is predictive of wives' drinking after marriage. A relationship motivation model was tested in which this influence was moderated by wives' dependence, relationship satisfaction, peer group size, and the belief that alcohol positively impacts relationships. Newlyweds were assessed at the time of marriage and were reassessed at their 1st and 2nd anniversaries. Results supported a relationship motivation model. Husband-to-wife drinking influence was moderated by wives' interpersonal dependence, number of peers, and positive relationship alcohol expectancies. The direction of the spousal influence changed in the 2nd year of marriage, with wives' drinking over the 1st year predicting husbands' drinking in the 2nd. Implications with respect to marriage and the drinking partnership are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The implications of Big Five standing for the distribution of trait manifestation in behavior: Fifteen experience-sampling studies and a meta-analysis.

One of the fundamental questions in personality psychology is whether and how strongly trait standing relates to the traits that people actually manifest in their behavior when faced with real pressures and real consequences of their actions. One reason this question is fundamental is the common belief that traits do not predict how individuals behave, which leads to the reasonable conclusion that traits are not important to study. However, this conclusion is surprising given that there is almost no data on the ability of traits to predict distributions of naturally occurring, representative behaviors of individuals (and that there are many studies showing that traits do indeed predict specific behaviors). The authors describe a meta-analysis of 15 experience-sampling studies, conducted over the course of 8 years, amassing over 20,000 reports of trait manifestation in behavior. Participants reported traits on typical self-report questionnaires, then described their current behavior multiple times per day for several days as the behavior was occurring. Results show that traits, contrary to expectations, were strongly predictive of individual differences in trait manifestation in behavior, predicting average levels with correlations between .42 and .56 (approaching .60 for stringently restricted studies). Several other ways of summarizing trait manifestation in behavior were also predicted from traits. These studies provide evidence that traits are powerful predictors of actual manifestation of traits in behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between personality and coping: A meta-analysis.

Personality may directly facilitate or constrain coping, but relations of personality to coping have been inconsistent across studies, suggesting a need for greater attention to methods and samples. This meta-analysis tested moderators of relations between Big Five personality traits and coping using 2,653 effect sizes drawn from 165 samples and 33,094 participants. Personality was weakly related to broad coping (e.g., Engagement or Disengagement), but all 5 traits predicted specific strategies. Extraversion and Conscientiousness predicted more problem-solving and cognitive restructuring, Neuroticism less. Neuroticism predicted problematic strategies like wishful thinking, withdrawal, and emotion-focused coping but, like Extraversion, also predicted support seeking. Personality more strongly predicted coping in young samples, stressed samples, and samples reporting dispositional rather than situation-specific coping. Daily versus retrospective coping reports and self-selected versus researcher-selected stressors also moderated relations between personality and coping. Cross-cultural differences were present, and ethnically diverse samples showed more protective effects of personality. Richer understanding of the role of personality in the coping process requires assessment of personality facets and specific coping strategies, use of laboratory and daily report studies, and multivariate analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

It takes two to tango: How parents’ and adolescents’ personalities link to the quality of their mutual relationship.

According to J. Belsky’s (1984) process model of parenting, both adolescents’ and parents’ personality should exert a significant impact on the quality of their mutual relationship. Using multi-informant, symmetric data on the Big Five personality traits and the relationship quality of mothers, fathers, and two adolescent children, the current study set out to test this prediction. Adolescents’ agreeableness and parents’ extraversion emerged as predictors of relationship warmth, whereas parents’ openness emerged as a predictor of low restrictive control. In addition, some gender-specific effects emerged. Overall, parents’ and adolescents’ traits equally predicted the amount of relationship warmth, whereas adolescents’ unique personality more strongly predicted the amount of restrictive control. The predictive power of adolescents’ personality increased with age. Personality characteristics that affected relationship quality were partly shared between parents and their adolescent children. Findings support Belsky’s (1984) notion that both parents’ and children’s personality predict the quality of their mutual relationship, though the relative predictive power of children and parents depends on the type of outcome variable and the age of the children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expressions of positive emotion in women's college yearbook pictures and their relationship to personality and life outcomes across adulthood.

To test hypotheses about positive emotion, the authors examined the relationship of positive emotional expression in women's college pictures to personality, observer ratings, and life outcomes. Consistent with the notion that positive emotions help build personal resources, positive emotional expression correlated with the self-reported personality traits of affiliation, competence, and low negative emotionality across adulthood and predicted changes in competence and negative emotionality. Observers rated women displaying more positive emotion more favorably on several personality dimensions and expected interactions with them to be more rewarding; thus, demonstrating the beneficial social consequences of positive emotions. Finally, positive emotional expression predicted favorable outcomes in marriage and personal well-being up to 30 years later. Controlling for physical attractiveness and social desirability had little impact on these findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship separation for young, at-risk couples: Prediction from dyadic aggression.

Dyadic physical aggression in the relationships of 158 young, at-risk couples was examined as a predictor of relationship separation over the course of 6 years. A high prevalence of physical aggression and a high rate of separation were found, with 80% of couples engaging in physical aggression (as reported by either partner or as observed) and 62% separating over time. As predicted, physical aggression significantly increased the likelihood of relationship dissolution, even after accounting for psychological aggression, prior relationship satisfaction, and relationship contextual factors (length of relationship, relationship type, and children in the household). Of the contextual factors, relationship type was predictive of relationship dissolution: Married couples were least likely to dissolve their relationships compared with cohabiting and dating couples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)