Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Aging Ment Health. 2011 Apr;15(3):344-53. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2010.519324.
In this study of 125 older couples married for an average of 34 years, multilevel models were computed to simultaneously examine intra-couple personality trait averages and between-spouse trait similarity as predictors of marital satisfaction. Our findings suggest that higher intra-couple levels of extraversion predict marital satisfaction, both husbands and wives. In addition, between-spouse similarity in openness to experience appears associated with higher levels of marital satisfaction as reported by husbands; concomitantly, between-spouse similarity in agreeableness predicts wives' marital satisfaction. With respect to openness (husbands) and agreeableness (wives), it did not matter which spouse within couples reported higher or lower trait levels. The most notable finding to emerge from this study is that neuroticism is not associated with marital satisfaction, neither husbands nor wives. This result stands in contrast to previously reported findings--the vast majority of prior research conducted with dating and newlywed couples. Conflicting results may reflect the degree to which neuroticism determines divorce within the first years of married life, adaptation to the foibles of one's spouse over time, overreliance on younger samples in marriage and family research, or some combination of these alternate explanations.
在这项对 125 对结婚平均 34 年的老年夫妇的研究中，采用多层次模型同时考察了夫妻间人格特质平均值和配偶间特质相似性对婚姻满意度的预测作用。研究结果表明，外向性的夫妻间较高水平可以预测夫妻双方的婚姻满意度。此外，丈夫报告的经验开放性配偶间相似性与较高的婚姻满意度相关；同时，夫妻间宜人性的相似性预测了妻子的婚姻满意度。对于外向性（丈夫）和宜人性（妻子），夫妻中哪一方报告的特质水平较高或较低并不重要。这项研究最显著的发现是神经质与婚姻满意度无关，无论是丈夫还是妻子。这一结果与之前的报告结果形成对比——此前绝大多数关于约会和新婚夫妇的研究都表明，神经质与婚姻满意度呈负相关。冲突的结果可能反映了神经质在婚姻生活的头几年决定离婚的程度、随着时间的推移对配偶缺点的适应程度、在婚姻和家庭研究中过度依赖年轻样本，或者这些替代解释的某种组合。
