For better or for worse: the moderating effects of personality on the marriage life satisfaction link
On average, marriage tends to lead to temporary increases in life satisfaction, which quickly return to pre-marital levels. This general pattern, however, does not consider the personality of individuals entering into marriage. We examine whether following marriage pre-marital personality predicts d...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33093/ |
| _version_ | 1848794555922513920 |
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| author | Boyce, Christopher J. Wood, Alex M. Ferguson, Eamonn |
| author_facet | Boyce, Christopher J. Wood, Alex M. Ferguson, Eamonn |
| author_sort | Boyce, Christopher J. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | On average, marriage tends to lead to temporary increases in life satisfaction, which quickly return to pre-marital levels. This general pattern, however, does not consider the personality of individuals entering into marriage. We examine whether following marriage pre-marital personality predicts different changes to life satisfaction in a sample of initially single German adults (N = 2015), completing life satisfaction measures and indicating their marital status yearly for eight years (during which 468 married). We find that conscientious women experience greater life satisfaction following marriage than less conscientious women. Our data also indicate that introverted women and extraverted men experience longer-term life satisfaction benefits following marriage. Our results refute the claim of limited life satisfaction effects from marriage and caution against relying on average effects when examining the influence of life events on well-being. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:18:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-33093 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:18:04Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-330932020-05-04T17:53:38Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33093/ For better or for worse: the moderating effects of personality on the marriage life satisfaction link Boyce, Christopher J. Wood, Alex M. Ferguson, Eamonn On average, marriage tends to lead to temporary increases in life satisfaction, which quickly return to pre-marital levels. This general pattern, however, does not consider the personality of individuals entering into marriage. We examine whether following marriage pre-marital personality predicts different changes to life satisfaction in a sample of initially single German adults (N = 2015), completing life satisfaction measures and indicating their marital status yearly for eight years (during which 468 married). We find that conscientious women experience greater life satisfaction following marriage than less conscientious women. Our data also indicate that introverted women and extraverted men experience longer-term life satisfaction benefits following marriage. Our results refute the claim of limited life satisfaction effects from marriage and caution against relying on average effects when examining the influence of life events on well-being. Elsevier 2016-07-01 Article PeerReviewed Boyce, Christopher J., Wood, Alex M. and Ferguson, Eamonn (2016) For better or for worse: the moderating effects of personality on the marriage life satisfaction link. Personality and Individual Differences, 97 . pp. 61-66. ISSN 0191-8869 Marriage life satisfaction personality subjective well-being adaptation http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886916301520 doi:10.1016/j.paid.2016.03.005 doi:10.1016/j.paid.2016.03.005 |
| spellingShingle | Marriage life satisfaction personality subjective well-being adaptation Boyce, Christopher J. Wood, Alex M. Ferguson, Eamonn For better or for worse: the moderating effects of personality on the marriage life satisfaction link |
| title | For better or for worse: the moderating effects of personality on the marriage life satisfaction link |
| title_full | For better or for worse: the moderating effects of personality on the marriage life satisfaction link |
| title_fullStr | For better or for worse: the moderating effects of personality on the marriage life satisfaction link |
| title_full_unstemmed | For better or for worse: the moderating effects of personality on the marriage life satisfaction link |
| title_short | For better or for worse: the moderating effects of personality on the marriage life satisfaction link |
| title_sort | for better or for worse: the moderating effects of personality on the marriage life satisfaction link |
| topic | Marriage life satisfaction personality subjective well-being adaptation |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33093/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33093/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33093/ |