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Assortative mating, convergence, and satisfaction in married couples
Author(s) -
GONZAGA GIAN C.,
CARTER STEVE,
GALEN BUCKWALTER J.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.81
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1475-6811
pISSN - 1350-4126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6811.2010.01309.x
Subject(s) - assortative mating , personality psychology , convergence (economics) , psychology , similarity (geometry) , personality , social psychology , sample (material) , demography , economics , sociology , computer science , population , image (mathematics) , economic growth , chemistry , chromatography , artificial intelligence
This work investigates assortative mating and convergence in personality and their effect on marital satisfaction. Measures of personality were collected from a sample of married couples before they met and twice after they were married. Results showed evidence for assortative mating but not for convergence in an average couple. Similarity and convergence in personality predicted later marital satisfaction. These results indicate that similarity and convergence in psychological characteristics may benefit relationships and that while spouses may choose partners with similar personalities they do not become more like their partners in the early part of their marriage.