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Personality Trait Similarity Between Spouses in Four Cultures
Author(s) -
McCrae Robert R.,
Martin Thomas A.,
Hrebícková Martina,
Urbánek Tomáš,
Boomsma Dorret I.,
Willemsen Gonneke,
Costa Paul T.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2008.00517.x
Subject(s) - psychology , assortative mating , agreeableness , personality , spouse , similarity (geometry) , trait , facet (psychology) , openness to experience , big five personality traits , social psychology , personality assessment inventory , big five personality traits and culture , developmental psychology , demography , extraversion and introversion , population , artificial intelligence , sociology , anthropology , computer science , image (mathematics) , programming language
We examined patterns of trait similarity (assortative mating) in married couples in four cultures, using both self‐reports and spouse ratings on versions of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. There was evidence of a subtle but pervasive perceived contrast bias in the spouse‐rating data. However, there was strong agreement across methods of assessment and moderate agreement across cultures in the pattern of results. Most assortment effects were small, but correlations exceeding .40 were seen for a subset of traits, chiefly from the Openness and Agreeableness domains. Except in Russia, where more positive assortment was seen for younger couples, comparisons of younger and older cohorts showed little systematic difference. This suggested that mate selection, rather than convergence over time, accounted for similarity. Future research on personality similarity in dyads can utilize different designs but should assess personality at both domain and the facet levels.