Dynamic transaction (II)

This project investigates transactions between personality and relationships in young adulthood across a period of 8 years (mean ages at the 3 assessments were 24, 28, and 32 years). A representative subsample of the Family Survey of the Deutsches Jugendinstitut (DJI) was studied three times: The 1. assessment was conducted in 1995 with support from the DJI and the Max-Planck-Institute for Psychological Research. The 2. and 3. assessment (conducted 1999 and 2003) were granted by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (NE 633-1,2; NE 633-2). The cross-sectional results of the 1. assessment revealed that the life patterns and social relationships of the respondents were highly dependent on their personality (Neyer, 1999). The longitudinal results showed that personality predicted whether and when young adults entered into their first serious partner relationship, and that the subsequent maturation of personality (i.e., decreases in Neuroticism, increases in Conscientiousness) was moderated by this transition. Although in general personality traits influenced change in social relationships much more than vice versa, personality traits were not immune against relationship experiences (Neyer & Asendorpf, 2001, Neyer & Lehnart, in prep.). Our findings support the transactional view of personality development in adulthood.