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Category: Relationships
Science Says Look for This Personality Trait in Your Partner
This personality trait was linked to less marital conflict.
This personality trait was linked to less marital conflict.
Positivity is one of the best personality traits for a partner, research finds.
Women who have positive partners report less marital conflict.
Other personality factors are also linked to a better relationship:
- Women fought less with introverted men.
- Women had less conflict with men who had stable emotions.
Marital conflict included things like criticism, too many demands or just getting on the other person’s nerves.
Along with personality factors, health was also important.
Women had less marital conflict if their partner was in good health.
Dr James Iveniuk, the study’s first author, said:
“Wives report more conflict if their husband is in poor health.
If the wife is in poor health, there doesn’t seem to be any difference in terms of the quality of the marriage for the husband.”
The conclusions come from a study of 953 hetersexual couples who had been together for an average of 39 years.
The results showed that the personality and health of the man was linked to marital conflict.
However, the woman’s personality and health made little difference in this regard, said Dr Iveniuk:
“Wives whose husbands show higher levels of positivity reported less conflict.
However, the wives’ positivity had no association with their husbands’ reports of conflict.”
Professor Linda J. Waite, study co-author, said:
“Several previous studies have been about the implications of marital status on health.
This research allows us to examine individual marriages and not ‘married people.’
We have the reports on the quality of the marriage from each person, about their own personality and their own health.”
The study was published in the Journal of Marriage and Family (Iveniuk et al., 2014).
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7 Psychology Studies On Love’s Strange Secrets
Uncover love’s strange secrets with these seven illuminating psychology studies on relationships.
Uncover love’s strange secrets with these seven illuminating psychology studies on relationships.
These seven psychology studies explore how we navigate love, loss and connection.
They shed light on how our gender can influence our priorities, how we recover from heartbreak and the subtle dynamics that shape long-term partnerships.
They also explore the impact of bullying on teenagers and the power of self-compassion in romantic relationships.
These studies are all from the members-only section of PsyBlog — if you are not already, find out how to become a PsyBlog member here.
1.
What Men And Women Really Get Jealous About (M)
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2.
This Is How Long It Takes To Recover From Divorce And Breakups (M)
Researchers tracked over 200,000 people to reveal the hidden impact of breakups on mental health.
3.
Revealing The Unconscious Thoughts That Shape Your Relationship (M)
Learn why positivity might not be enough to save your love life.
4.
Why People Who Are Bullied Develop Relationship Problems (M)
How bullying in adolescence plants seeds of suspicion that lead to mental health struggles later in life.
5.
How To Unleash The Beautiful Emotion That Transforms Relationships (M)
The transformative power of this emotion in romantic relationships.
6.
The Percentage Of Men And Women Open To Multiple Partners
Up to 5 percent of people in the U.S. report they are currently in a consensual non-monogamous relationships.
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The Simplest Way To Improve A Toxic Relationship
Partners with an avoidant attachment style do not want to get close.
Partners with an avoidant attachment style do not want to get close.
One of the most toxic relationship patterns is called an ‘avoidant attachment style’.
It is when one person (or both) in a relationship won’t commit because they want to avoid getting too attached to the other.
Around one quarter of people are avoidant.
However, simple exercises that build intimacy can help to improve this relationship pattern, research shows.
For one exercise, couples in the study took turns answering a series of questions that involved sharing information with each other.
Here are a few of the questions:
- Complete this sentence: “I wish I had someone with whom I could share …”
- When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?
- Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.
- What would constitute a “perfect” day for you?
- Would you like to be famous? In what way?
All of these questions — which were designed by New York psychologist Professor Arthur Aron — help make couples feel more intimate with each other.
You can read all 36 question to fall in love here.
People in the study also did partner yoga, which is a series of poses designed for two people.
After doing the yoga and asking and answering the questions, partners with a more avoidant attachment style gave higher ratings to the relationship.
The researchers also gave some couples diaries to complete for three weeks.
These showed that listening and making the other feel loved did a lot to improve relationships.
Many activities to improve a difficult relationship take relatively little effort.
Just asking and answering thoughtful questions can make a real difference in reducing negative emotions and promoting satisfaction.
In addition, people found reflecting on positive relationship memories to be beneficial.
The study’s authors conclude:
“Although individuals who are more avoidantly attached tend to eschew intimacy and experience negativity in their relationships, recent research suggests that positive relationship contexts may help avoidant persons be more comfortable with closeness and experience better individual and relationship outcomes.
Simple positive and intimacy-promoting relationship experiences had both short and long-term effects for more avoidant persons.”
The study was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Stanton et al., 2017).
The Secret To Healing Heartbreak (M)
Find out how the power of suggestion can reshape our experience of heartache.
Revealing The Unconscious Thoughts That Shape Your Relationship (M)
Learn why positivity might not be enough to save your love life.
Why People Who Are Bullied Develop Relationship Problems (M)
How bullying in adolescence plants seeds of suspicion that lead to mental health struggles later in life.
This Is How Long It Takes To Recover From Divorce And Breakups (M)
Researchers tracked over 200,000 people to reveal the hidden impact of breakups on mental health.
What Men And Women Really Get Jealous About (M)
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