I Guess You’re Just Not My Type
Personality Types and Similarity Between Types as Predictors of Satisfaction in Intimate Couples
Abstract
We examined the relevance of personality to relationship satisfaction in intimate couples from a typological point of view. Based on a sample of 133 couples, relationship satisfaction was predicted by the personality types of both relationship partners (each self-rated and partner-rated) resulting from the Big Five factors. Furthermore, interrater agreement of personality type and dyadic similarity were also used as predictors. The results showed that self-rated personality was hardly instrumental in predicting relationship satisfaction. For both sexes, relationship satisfaction seemed to depend mainly on how the person‘s personality was rated by his or her partner. Neither interrater agreement nor dyadic similarity had any influence on the relationship satisfaction of men or women. The applicability of the typological approach in this area of research is discussed.
References
2003). Head-to-head comparison of the predictive validity of personality types and dimensions. European Journal of Personality, 77, 327–346.
(2007). Psychologie der Persönlichkeit [
(Psychology of Personality ]. Berlin, Germany: Springer.2001). Carving personality description at its joints: Confirmation of three replicable personality prototypes for both children and adults. European Journal of Personality, 15, 169–198.
A. G. (2006). Predictive validity of personality types versus personality dimensions from early childhood to adulthood: Implications for the distinction between core and surface traits. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 52, 486–513.
J. A. (1999). Resilient, overcontrolled and undercontrolled personality prototypes in childhood: Replicability, predictive power, and the trait-type issue. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 815–832.
(2005). Self and partner personality in intimate relationships. European Journal of Personality, 19, 501–518.
(2006). Partner personality in distressed relationships. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 13, 392–396.
(2011). Soulmates, compatibility and intimacy: Allied discursive resources in the struggle for relationship satisfaction in the new millennium. New Ideas in Psychology, 29, 10–23.
(2003). Prospective effects of marital satisfaction on depressive symptoms in established marriages: A dyadic model. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 20, 355–371.
(1988). The methods and problems of cluster analysis. In J. R. Nesselroade R. B. CattellEds., Handbook of multivariate experimental psychology (pp. 447–473). New York: Plenum.
(1980). The role of ego-control and egoresiliency in the organization of behavior. In , Minnesota symposium of child psychology (pp. 39–101). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
(1993). NEO-Fünf-Faktoren-Inventar (NEO-FFI) nach Costa und McCrae [
(NEO-Five-Factor-Inventory (NEO-FFI) by Costa and McCrae ]. Göttingen: Hogrefe.1997). Personality and mate preferences: Five Factors in mate selection and marital satisfaction. Journal of Personality, 65, 107–136.
(2002). The replicability and utility of three personality types. European Journal of Personality, 16, 73–87.
(1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
(2012). Personality similarity, perceptual accuracy, and relationship satisfaction in dating and married couples. Personal Relationships, 19, 128–145.
(2007). Do negative interactions mediate the effects of negative emotionality, communal positive emotionality, and constraint on relationship satisfaction? Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 24, 557–573.
(1954). Interpersonal perception and marital happiness. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 8, 164–171.
(2010). Predicting relationship and life satisfaction from personality in nationally representative samples from three countries: The relative importance of actor, partner, and similarity effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 690–702.
(2011). Contrasting prototypes and dimensions in the classification of personality pathology: Evidence that dimensions, but not prototypes, are robust. Psychological Medicine, 41, 1151–1163.
(2006). The ideal romantic partner personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 41, 431–441.
(2006). Relationship satisfaction. In A. L. Vangelisti D. PerlmanEds., The Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships (pp. 579–594). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
R. H. (2010). Through the eyes of love: Reality and illusion in intimate relationships. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 627–658.
(2004). Birds of a feather or strange birds? Ties among personality dimensions, similarity, and marital quality. Journal of Family Psychology, 18, 564–574.
(2006). Couple Similarity and Marital Satisfaction: Are Similar Spouses Happier? Journal of Personality, 74, 1401–1420. doi: 10.1111/j.1467–6494.2006.00414.x
(1996). Correlates of expressed and felt emotion during marital conflict: Satisfaction, personality, process, and outcome. Personality and Individual Differences, 21, 49–60.
(2007). Similarity, convergence, and relationship satisfaction in dating and married couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 34–48.
(1990). Diagnostische Verfahren für Berater [
(Diagnostic inventories for counselors ]. Weinheim, Germany: Beltz Test Verlag.2004). The role of person versus situation in life satisfaction: A critical examination. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 574–600.
(2009). Beyond “accident-proneness”: Using Five-Factor Model prototypes to predict driving behavior. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 1096–1100.
(2006). Beyond resilients, undercontrollers, and overcontrollers? A new perspective on personality prototype research. European Journal of Personality, 20, 5–28.
(1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin O. P. JohnEds., Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 102–138). New York: Guilford.
(1995). The longitudinal course of marital quality and stability: A review of theory, method, and research. Psychological Bulletin, 118, 3–34.
(1994). The role of negative affectivity in the association between attributions and marital satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 413–424.
(1987). Personality and compatibility: A prospective analysis of marital stability and marital satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 27–40.
(2010). A developmental typology of personality. European Journal of Personality, 24, 309–323.
(1996). The quest for a perfect spouse: Spousal ratings and marital satisfaction. Psychological Reports, 79, 731–735.
(2008). Predicting marital satisfaction from self, partner, and couple characteristics: Is it me, you, or us? Journal of Personality, 76, 1231–1266.
(2005). Assortative mating and marital quality in Newlyweds: A couple-centered approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 304–326.
(2010). The Five-Factor model of personality and relationship satisfaction of intimate partners: A meta-analysis. Journal of Research in Personality, 44, 124–127.
(2003). The typological approach in child and family psychology: A review of theory, methods, and research. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 6, 129–146.
(2011). Change and stability of personality types in adolescence: A five-wave longitudinal study in early-to-middle and middle-to-late adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 47, 1181–1195.
(2002). Kindred spirits? The benefits of egocentrism in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 563–581.
(2004). Personality and social network effects on romantic relationships: A dyadic approach. European Journal of Personality, 18, 279–299.
(1996). Female and male personality styles: A typological and developmental analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 1288–1306.
(2004). Resilients, overcontrollers, and undercontrollers: The replicability of the three personality prototypes across informants. European Journal of Personality, 18, 1–14.
(2008). Only the congruent survive: Personality similarities in couples. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 533–535.
(2000). Two personalities, one relationship: Both partners’ personality traits shape the quality of their relationship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 251–259.
(1996). Resilient, overcontrolled, and undercontrolled boys. Three replicable types. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 70, 157–171.
(2007). A head-to-head comparison of Big-Five types and traits in the prediction of social attitudes: Further evidence for a five-cluster typology. Journal of Individual Differences, 28, 138–149.
v. (2007). Exploring the interplay between personality dimensions: A comparison of the typological and the dimensional approach in stress research. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 1255–1266.
(2004). Marital status and health: United States, 1999–2002. Advance Data, 351, 1–36.
(2007). Birds of a feather don’t always fly farthest: Similarity in Big Five personality predicts more negative marital satisfaction trajectories in long-term marriages. Psychology and Aging, 22, 666–675.
(1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 15–28.
(2000a). General traits of personality and affectivity as predictors of satisfaction in intimate relationships: Evidence from self- and partner-ratings. Journal of Personality, 68, 413–449.
(2000b). Self-other agreement in personality and affectivity: The role of acquaintanceship, trait visibility, and assumed similarity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 546–558.
(2004). Match makers and deal breakers: Analyses of assortative mating in newlywed couples. Journal of Personality, 72, 1029–1068.
(2005). Ideal mate personality concepts and compatibility in close relationships: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 242–256.
(2006). Happily ever after? Cohabitation, marriage, divorce, and happiness in Germany. Population and Development Review, 32, 511–528.
(