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Do men grow to resemble their wives, or vice versa?
1Department of Public Health, Ackton Hospital, Pontefract, Yorkshire.
Journal of Biosocial Science
|January 1, 1993
Summary
Spouses show minimal change in traits after marriage. Couples exhibit existing similarities at marriage, with little convergence or divergence over time, indicating partners do not grow to resemble each other.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Understanding marital dynamics requires examining trait similarity and change within couples.
- Previous research has explored assortative mating but less on longitudinal trait convergence in established relationships.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the degree of similarity and change in physical, psychological, and socioeconomic traits among couples at different marital stages.
- To determine if couples become more alike over time or if similarities are stable from the outset.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study design involving engaged, newlywed, and long-term married couples.
- Measurement of physical (age, height, weight), psychological (neuroticism, extroversion), and socioeconomic (occupation, education, religion, smoking) traits.
- Statistical analysis of trait correlations and changes over a one-year period.
Main Results:
- Highest correlations observed for age, followed by height, neuroticism, occupation, education, religion, and smoking habits.
- Similarities in traits were evident at the time of marriage.
- Minimal convergence or divergence in traits was observed over the one-year follow-up period.
Conclusions:
- Spousal trait similarity is largely established by the time of marriage.
- There is little evidence of significant convergence or divergence in key traits as a function of marital duration.
- Partners do not tend to grow more alike in these measured characteristics over the course of their marriage.