Personality and Marital Adjustment: Utility of the Five-Factor Model of Personality

Abstract

Using the five-factor model of personality, this study investigates the contribution of personality traits to marital adjustment. The sample is composed of 446 couples who completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, which measures the personality traits of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, as well as the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that self-reported and partner-reported personality traits were significant predictors of self-reported marital adjustment for both men and women. Personality traits were found to contribute to the prediction of marital adjustment over and above the effect of neuroticism. Both interpersonal and intrapersonal factors can influence marital relationships. Prominent intrapersonal factors are personality traits-the emotional, relational, experiential, attitudinal, and motivational styles of an individual that are assumed to be stable over time (Costa & McCrae,1992). Many studies suggest that specific personality factors can predict marital adjustment. For example, personality factors were better predictors of marital instability measured 4 years later than demographic variables, such as the age, the educational level, or the history of previous divorces of the individual (Bentler & Newcomb, 1978). Relationships between personality factors and marital outcomes have been observed using cross-sectional designs (e.g., Hjemboe & Butcher, 1991; Long & Andrews, 1990; Miller, Lefcourt, Holmes, Ware, & Saleh, 1986; Russell & Wells, 1994; Snyder & Regts, 1990) and longitudinal designs (Bentler & Newcomb, 1978; Karney & Bradbury, 1995; Kelly & Conley, 1987; Kurdek, 1991; Shaver & Brennan, 1992). The criterion variable was marital adjustment scores or marital status (i.e., divorced vs. still married). An individual's level of neuroticism (the negative affectivity and emotional instability) has been the most consistent and powerful personality predictor of relationship outcomes. Self-reported neuroticism frequently was negatively associated with diverse measures of marital adjustment (Buss, 1991; Geist & Gilbert, 1996; Kurdek, 1997). For instance, the results of a broad longitudinal study conducted over 50 years on a sample of 300 couples revealed that the level of neuroticism of both spouses was a key determinant of their marital adjustment (Kelly & Conley, 1987). More specifically, the spouses who divorced and the spouses who were dissatisfied with their union scored higher on neuroticism that was measured before their marriage. Karney and Bradbury (1995) recently emphasized that, considering the huge predictive power of neuroticism, the influence of other personality traits in marital outcomes remains to be investigated, after controlling for the level of neuroticism. Significant relationships also were observed between self-reported marital adjustment and particular personality traits, such as psychotism, agreeableness, and internal locus of control. A high level of psychotism was negatively associated with self-reported marital adjustment, and the other two personality factors were positively associated (Russell & Wells, 1994; Smolen & Spiegel, 1987). Furthermore, personality factors such as perspective taking (the tendency to put oneself in another person's place), emotional expressiveness, and ambivalence in emotional expressiveness also were significant predictors of marital adjustment. The first two related positively to marital adjustment, and the last one related negatively (King, 1993; Long & Andrews, 1990). Finally, outcomes of the personality factor of extraversion offered mixed results. A high level of extraversion was positively related (Richmond, Craig, & Ruzicka, 1991), negatively related (Bentler & Newcomb, 1978; Geist & Gilbert, 1996), and unrelated (Russell & Wells, 1994) to marital adjustment scores. …