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Taking the Ups and Downs at the Rollercoaster of Love: Associations between Major Relationship Events and the Big Five Personality Traits

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  • Eva Asselmann
  • Jule Specht

Abstract

Personality predicts how we interact with others, what partners we have, and how happy and lasting our romantic relationships are. At the same time, our experiences in these relationships may affect our personality. Who experiences specific major relationship events and how do these events relate to personality development? We examined this issue based on data from a nationally representative household panel study from Germany (N = 49,932). In this study, the occurrence of major relationship events (moving in with a partner, marriage, separation, and divorce) was assessed yearly and the Big Five personality traits were measured repeatedly in 2005, 2009, 2013, and 2017 with the BFI-S. We applied multilevel analyses to simultaneously model selection effects as well as different types of personality changes in the years before and after these events in the total sample and separately in women and men. Our findings revealed that less agreeable individuals were more likely to experience each of the examined relationship events. Moreover, each event was associated with personality changes, which only occurred after (not before) these events and considerably varied by event and gender. Individuals who moved in with a partner, got married, or separated from a partner primarily experienced changes in openness in the first thereafter, and individuals who separated from a partner or got divorced became less emotionally stable in the following years. However, there was little evidence for ‘maturation’ effects, except that individuals who moved in with a partner (especially men) became more conscientious in the following years.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva Asselmann & Jule Specht, 2020. "Taking the Ups and Downs at the Rollercoaster of Love: Associations between Major Relationship Events and the Big Five Personality Traits," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1100, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1100
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lang, Frieder R. & John, Dennis & Lüdtke, Oliver & Schupp, Jürgen & Wagner, Gert G., 2011. "Short Assessment of the Big Five: Robust Across Survey Methods Except Telephone Interviewing," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 43(2), pages 548-567.
    2. Eva Asselmann & Jule Specht, 2019. "Till Death Do Us Part: Transactions between Losing One’s Spouse and the Big Five Personality Traits," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1063, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    3. Goebel Jan & Grabka Markus M. & Liebig Stefan & Kroh Martin & Richter David & Schröder Carsten & Schupp Jürgen, 2019. "The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(2), pages 345-360, April.
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    1. Eva Asselmann & Jule Specht, 2022. "Personality Growth after Relationship Losses: Changes of Perceived Control in the Years around Separation, Divorce, and the Death of a Partner," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1172, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

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