Similarity, convergence, and relationship satisfaction in dating and married couples.

The current work investigates how personality and interpersonal processes combine to predict change in relationship quality. Measures of personality and emotion similarity were collected during laboratory interactions from a cross-sectional sample of dating couples (Study 1) and a 1-year longitudinal study of newlywed married couples (Study 2). Results showed that emotion similarity mediated the association between personality similarity and relationship quality (Studies 1 and 2) and that emotion convergence mediated the association between personality convergence and relationship satisfaction (Study 2). These results indicate that similarity and convergence in personality may benefit relationships by promoting similarity and convergence in partners' shared emotional experiences. Findings also lend support to models that integrate partners' enduring traits and couples' adaptive processes as antecedents of relationship outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two personalities, one relationship: Both partners' personality traits shape the quality of their relationship.

This research tested 6 models of the independent and interactive effects of stable personality traits on each partner's reports of relationship satisfaction and quality. Both members of 360 couples (N?=?720) completed the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire and were interviewed about their relationship. Findings show that a woman's relationship happiness is predicted by her partner's low Negative Emotionality, high Positive Emotionality, and high Constraint, whereas a man's relationship happiness is predicted only by his partner's low Negative Emotionality. Findings also show evidence of additive but not interactive effects: Each partner's personality contributed independently to relationship outcomes but not in a synergistic way. These results are discussed in relation to models that seek to integrate research on individual differences in personality traits with research on interpersonal processes in intimate relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Similarity and assumed similarity in personality reports of well-acquainted persons.

The authors obtained self- and observer reports of personality from pairs of well-acquainted college students. Consistent with previous findings, results of Study 1 showed strong cross-source agreement for all 6 HEXACO personality factors (rs ≈ .55). In addition, the authors found modest levels of similarity (r ≈ .25) between dyad members' self-reports on each of 2 dimensions, Honesty-Humility and Openness to Experience. For these same 2 factors, dyad members' self-reports were correlated with their observer reports of the other dyad member (r ≈ .40), thus indicating moderately high assumed similarity. In Study 2, Honesty-Humility and Openness to Experience were the 2 personality factors most strongly associated with the 2 major dimensions of personal values, which also showed substantial assumed similarity. In Study 3, assumed similarity was considerably stronger for close friends than for nonfriend acquaintances. Results suggest that assumed similarity for Honesty-Humility and Openness to Experience reflects a tendency to overestimate one's similarity to persons with whom one has a close relationship, but only on those personality characteristics whose relevance to values gives them central importance to one's identity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

For my eyes only: Gaze control, enmeshment, and relationship quality.

Perceived closeness that preserves the distinctness of each partner enhances intimate relationship quality, whereas pseudocloseness or enmeshment—reflecting an inability to distinguish one's own thoughts and emotions from a partner's—may have more negative outcomes (R. J. Green & P. D. Werner, 1996). Two studies investigated whether a dispositional inability to differentiate self from other is manifested at the attentional level as reduced capacity to inhibit following the gaze of another (A. Frischen, A. P. Bayliss, & S. P. Tipper, 2007). Among healthy elderly spouses in Study 1, superior gaze control predicted superior sociocognitive functioning, and those with poorer gaze control abilities were perceived by the partner as constricting the perceiving partner's autonomy, which in turn predicted lower relationship satisfaction among the latter. Moreover, these links were mediated by enmeshment, as indicated by the percentage of “we”-focused versus “I”- or partner-focused thoughts and emotions in the partners' independent accounts of the same relationship events. Extending these findings in a sample of Parkinson's disease patients and their spouses, Study 2 revealed a biphasic effect of self–other differentiation on relationship dynamics: In the early stages of the disease, increased couple focus promoted superior relationship quality, whereas lack of self–other differentiation predicted poorer relationship quality later. Thus, dispositional variations in fundamental social-perceptual processes predict both close relationship dynamics and long-term relationship quality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-determination and conflict in romantic relationships.

Four studies examined associations between E. L. Deci and R. M. Ryan's (1985, 2000) construct of autonomy, responses to relationship disagreements, and dissatisfaction after conflict. In Study 1, diary data showed that trait autonomy predicted relationship autonomy, which in turn predicted relative satisfaction after disagreements. In Study 2, trait autonomy predicted relationship autonomy, which was associated with less defensive and more understanding responses to conflict. Studies 3 and 4 examined whether one's partner's relationship autonomy uniquely predicted reported and observed behavior during conflict. Autonomous reasons for being in the relationship (of both self and partner) predicted both reported and observed responses to conflict and feelings of satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived Partner Reactions to Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Cancer: Impact on Psychosocial and Psychosexual Adjustment.

Two studies examined breast cancer patients' perceptions of their partners' reactions to their diagnosis and treatment as influences on 3 aspects of patients' well-being: psychosexual adjustment, emotional distress, and marital satisfaction. Study 1, cross-sectional, indicated that partner initiation of sex, frequency of sex, a positive 1st sexual experience after treatment, and especially perception of the partner's emotional involvement in the relationship, were relevant to these outcomes. Study 2, longitudinal, confirmed many of these findings in prospective tests across 1 year of recovery after surgery. Partner involvement prospectively predicted all 3 outcomes. Partner initiation of sex predicted greater marital satisfaction; partner adverse reaction to the scar predicted less marital satisfaction. Rated quality of the 1st sexual experience after treatment predicted less distress. The pattern suggests that women's impressions of their partners' emotional involvement after surgery for breast cancer forecast their adjustment in sexual, marital, and emotional arenas over the following year. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bargainer characteristics in distributive and integrative negotiation.

Negotiation researchers theorize that individual differences are determinants of bargaining processes and outcomes but have yet to establish empirically the role of individual differences. In 2 studies the authors used bargaining simulations to examine the roles of personality and cognitive ability in distributive (Study 1) and integrative (Study 2) negotiation. The authors hypothesized and found evidence that Extraversion and Agreeableness are liabilities in distributive bargaining encounters. For both Extraversion and Agreeableness there were interactions between personality and negotiator aspirations such that personality effects were more pronounced in the absence of high aspirations. Contrary to predictions, Conscientiousness was generally unrelated to bargaining success. Cognitive ability played no role in distributive bargaining but was markedly related to the attainment of joint outcomes in a situation with integrative potential. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Walking on eggshells": How expressing relationship insecurities perpetuates them.

The authors present a model positing that when people are insecure about a relationship partner's acceptance, they often express emotional vulnerabilities to the partner, which causes them to believe the partner views them as highly vulnerable and insecure. In turn, this belief causes them to doubt the authenticity of the partner's expressions of positive regard, which may perpetuate the experience and expression of insecurity that initiated the process. Prototypes of interactions with interpersonally vulnerable individuals included partners' inauthentic expressions of regard (Study 1). Suggesting that these prototypes are applied to personal relationships when vulnerabilities are expressed, those who claimed to have expressed vulnerabilities doubted the partner's authenticity because they believed that they were viewed as vulnerable (Studies 2A, 2B, and 4). Authenticity doubts in turn predicted perceptions of rejection (Studies 3 and 4), which in turn predicted partner derogation and subsequent expressions of vulnerability (Study 4). An experimental manipulation of reflected appraisals of vulnerability increased doubts about the authenticity of a new acquaintance's expressions of emotion (Study 5). Relational insecurity may be perpetuated via the intrapersonal cognitive consequences of expressing it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Giving up and giving in: The costs and benefits of daily sacrifice in intimate relationships.

This research provided the first empirical investigation of how approach and avoidance motives for sacrifice in intimate relationships are associated with personal well-being and relationship quality. In Study 1, the nature of everyday sacrifices made by dating partners was examined, and a measure of approach and avoidance motives for sacrifice was developed. In Study 2, which was a 2-week daily experience study of college students in dating relationships, specific predictions from the theoretical model were tested and both longitudinal and dyadic components were included. Whereas approach motives for sacrifice were positively associated with personal well-being and relationship quality, avoidance motives for sacrifice were negatively associated with personal well-being and relationship quality. Sacrificing for avoidance motives was particularly detrimental to the maintenance of relationships over time. Perceptions of a partner's motives for sacrifice were also associated with well-being and relationship quality. Implications for the conceptualization of relationship maintenance processes along these 2 dimensions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work-to-relationship conflict: Crossover effects in dual-earner couples.

To better understand the outcomes for couples whose work interferes with their relationships, with an emphasis on the crossover effects that can occur in close relationships, we examined experienced work-to-relationship conflict and perceptions of partner's work-to-relationship conflict for both members of 113 dual-earner couples. Outcomes of interests included relationship tension, health symptoms, and relationship satisfaction. Results indicate that personal work-to-relationship conflict and perceptions of partner's work-to-family conflict were related to personal as well as partner outcomes; a variety of direct crossover effects were demonstrated. The actor-partner interdependence model was incorporated to account for issues of interdependent data that naturally occur in relationship dyads, a methodological issue not typically addressed and accounted for in the dyadic work-family interface literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Human mate poaching: Tactics and temptations for infiltrating existing mateships.

The authors explored the psychology of romantically attracting someone who is already in a relationship—what can be called the process of human mate poaching. In Study 1 (N?=?236), they found that attempts at poaching were relatively common and were linked with distinctive personality dispositions. Study 2 (N?=?220) documented that the perceived costs and benefits of poaching differed somewhat for men and women and depended on whether short-term or long-term poaching outcomes were targeted. Study 3 (N?=?453) found support for 5 evolution-based hypotheses about the perceived effectiveness of poaching tactics. Study 4 (N?=?333) found that poaching effectiveness was influenced by the type of relationship being encroached on—marital, dating, long distance, highly committed, just beginning, or about to end. Discussion focuses on the importance of placing mate poaching within the broader context of human sexual strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality prototypes and ego development: conceptual similarities and relations in adult women

Three studies investigated how three personality prototypes (K. York & O.P. John, 1992) relate to J. Loevinger's (1976) stages of ego development (ED). Study 1 examined their conceptual similarities, and Study 2 their relations in a sample of adult women. In both studies, the personality prototypes mapped onto regions defined by multiple ED stages: The Individuated prototype was most likely to reach the high region of ED (Individualistic, Autonomous, and Integrated); the Traditional prototype was most likely to function in the middle region (Conformist, Self-aware, and Conscientious); and the Conflicted prototype was more likely to remain in the low region (Impulsive and Self-protective). In addition to these between-prototype differences, Study 3 explored whether differences in life outcomes within the prototypes are also related to ED; findings suggest that personality prototype and ego development may interact in shaping the life course.     

Effect of therapist-patient personality variables on therapeutic outcome.

Attempted to assess the effect of therapist and patient personality variables on the outcome of therapy. 55 women and 27 male psychiatric inpatients served as Ss. The MMPI was used to derive personality measures. Therapist and patient ratings of the therapy relationship served as the dependent variables. Therapy outcomes were found to be positively related to therapist's level of anxiety and negatively related to therapist's level of repressiveness. Patients' levels of anxiety and repressiveness were both positively related to outcomes. In 2 instances, increasing similarity between patient and therapist was found to be negatively related to outcome. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-control and accommodation in close relationships: An interdependence analysis.

Accommodation refers to the willingness, when a partner has engaged in a potentially destructive behavior, to (a) inhibit impulses toward destructive responding and (b) instead respond constructively. A pilot study and 3 additional studies examined the hypothesis that self-control promotes individuals' ability to accommodate in response to a romantic partner's potentially destructive behavior. Dispositional self-control was positively associated with accommodative tendencies in all 4 investigations. In addition, Study 1 (a retrospective study) and Study 2 (a laboratory experiment) revealed that "in-the-moment" self-regulatory strength depletion decreased the likelihood that an individual would accommodate. Finally, Study 3 demonstrated that self-control exerted a significant effect on accommodation even after the authors included commitment to the relationship in the model. Implications for relationship functioning are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moving toward more perfect unions: Daily and long-term consequences of approach and avoidance goals in romantic relationships.

In 2 daily experience studies and a laboratory study, the authors test predictions from approach-avoidance motivational theory to understand how dating couples can maintain feelings of relationship satisfaction in their daily lives and over the course of time. Approach goals were associated with increased relationship satisfaction on a daily basis and over time, particularly when both partners were high in approach goals. Avoidance goals were associated with decreases in relationship satisfaction over time, and people were particularly dissatisfied when they were involved with a partner with high avoidance goals. People high in approach goals and their partners were rated as relatively more satisfied and responsive to a partner's needs by outside observers in the lab, whereas people with high avoidance goals and their partners were rated as less satisfied and responsive. Positive emotions mediated the link between approach goals and daily satisfaction in both studies, and responsiveness to the partner's needs was an additional behavioral mechanism in Study 2. Implications of these findings for approach-avoidance motivational theory and for the maintenance of satisfying relationships over time are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can Opposites Attract? Personality Heterogeneity in Supervisor-Subordinate Dyads as a Predictor of Subordinate Outcomes.

Unlike the majority of research hypothesizing that similarity between individuals results in positive individual outcomes, this article examines whether dissimilarity results in positive outcomes. On the basis of interpersonal interaction theory, the authors hypothesized that dissimilarity in the personality dimension of control within supervisor-subordinate dyads is positively associated with the subordinate's satisfaction with the supervisor; results obtained with polynomial regression techniques were supportive. However, for 2 other outcomes, organizational citizenship behaviors and work withdrawal, neither similarity nor dissimilarity within the dyad was important; subordinate level of control was related to organizational citizenship behaviors reported by subordinates, and supervisor level of control was related to work withdrawal reported by subordinates. These findings portray the importance of examining relationship complexities beyond similarity in organizational dyad research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do the weary care about racioethnic similarity? The role of emotional exhaustion in relational demography.

Diversity theorists have hypothesized that similarity leads to both greater identification among individuals and reduced interpersonal conflict within organizations. Little research, however, has been conducted to identify boundary conditions for this relationship. The authors investigated the interactive effects of supervisor–subordinate racioethnic similarity and emotional exhaustion on organizational commitment in two studies. In Study 1, racioethnic supervisor–subordinate similarity related positively to commitment, but only among employees low in emotional exhaustion. In Study 2, we observed a significant indirect effect of racioethnic similarity on loyalty through supervisor support. Moreover, the support–loyalty linkage was significantly stronger for employees low in emotional exhaustion. Thus, the effects of supervisor–subordinate racioethnic similarity on employee commitment appear contingent upon employee emotional exhaustion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are we aware of the external factors that influence our food intake?

Objectives: This research examines the extent to which people accurately report some of the external influences on their food intake. Design: In two studies, specific factors (the presence and behavior of others) were manipulated in order to influence the amount of food that individuals consumed. Main Outcome Measures: The main outcomes of interest were participants' spontaneously generated explanations for their food intake (Study 1; n = 122), and their ratings of the importance of several potential determinants of food intake (Study 2; n = 75). Results: In Study 1, there was high concordance between the amounts eaten by members of a dyad, but very few participants indicated that they were influenced by their partner's behavior; they instead identified hunger and taste as the primary determinants of intake. Study 2 showed that participants' intake was strongly influenced by the behavior of others, but people rated taste and hunger as much more important influences on their intake. Conclusions: If external environmental factors influence people's food intake without their awareness or acknowledgment, then maintaining a healthy diet can be a challenge, with long-term consequences for health and well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and job satisfaction: The mediating role of job characteristics.

This study tested a model of the relationship between core self-evaluations, intrinsic job characteristics, and job satisfaction. Core self-evaluations was assumed to be a broad personality concept manifested in 4 specific traits: self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and low neuroticism. The model hypothesized that both subjective (perceived) job characteristics and job complexity mediate the relationship between core self-evaluations and job satisfaction. Two studies were conducted to test the model. Results from Study 1 supported the hypothesized model but also suggested that alternative models fit the data well. Results from Study 2 revealed that core self-evaluations measured in childhood and in early adulthood were linked to job satisfaction measured in middle adulthood. Furthermore, in Study 2 job complexity mediated part of the relationship between both assessments of core self-evaluations and job satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parents' Personality and Infants' Temperament as Contributors to Their Emerging Relationship.

The authors examined the contributions of infant's temperament and parent's personality to their relationship. In Study 1, 102 infants, mothers, and fathers were studied when infants were 7 months; in Study 2, 112 infants and mothers were followed from 9 to 45 months. Infants' temperament (joy, fear, anger, and attention) was observed in standard temperament paradigms. Parents' personality measures encompassed the Big Five traits and Empathy in Study 1 and Mistrust, Manipulativeness, Aggression, Dependency, Entitlement, and Workaholism in Study 2. Parent-child relationship (shared positive affect and parental responsiveness in Studies 1 and 2 and parental tracking of the infant in Study 1) was observed in naturalistic contexts. In Study 1, mothers' Neuroticism, Empathy, and Conscientiousness and fathers' Agreeableness, Openness, and Extraversion related to the relationship with the infants. All measures of infant temperament also related to the emerging relationship. In Study 2, maternal Mistrust, Manipulativeness, Dependency, and Workaholism predicted the relationship with the child. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)