General traits of personality and affectivity as predictors of satisfaction in intimate relationships: Evidence from self- and partner-ratings

Self- and partner-ratings on trait affect and the Big Five were obtained fr om 74 married and 136 dating couples. The relationship satisfaction of each person (the "target") was correlated with four sets of ratings: (a) target 's self-rated personality, (b) target's partner-rated personality, (c) part ner's self-rated personality, and (d) partner's target-rated personality. S elf- and partner ratings of the target's personality yielded very similar r esults. Negative and positive affectivity were consistent predictors of sat isfaction in both samples. Conscientiousness and agreeableness were reliabl y related to satisfaction in the dating couples, whereas extraversion consi stently correlated with satisfaction in the married couples. These traits j ointly predicted as much as 34% (self-ratings) and 26% (partner-ratings) of the variance in satisfaction. In contrast, the partner's personality playe d a lesser role in satisfaction.