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Continuity and change: assortative marriage and the consistency of personality in adulthood.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Caspi, A; Herbener, ES
Published in: Journal of personality and social psychology
February 1990

How is personality stability possible amid the myriad of social changes and transformations that characterize a human life? We argue that by choosing situations that are compatible with their dispositions and by affiliating with similar others, individuals may set in motion processes of social interchange that sustain their dispositions across time and circumstance. To test this proposition we examined mate selection, using data on married couples from two ongoing longitudinal studies at the Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley. Consistent with other research, the results point to homogamy as a basic norm in marriage. More important, the results show that marriage to a similar other promotes consistency in the intraindividual organization of personality attributes across middle adulthood. We offer some speculations for a more relational approach to the problem of individual continuity and change.

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Published In

Journal of personality and social psychology

DOI

EISSN

1939-1315

ISSN

0022-3514

Publication Date

February 1990

Volume

58

Issue

2

Start / End Page

250 / 258

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Psychology
  • Social Environment
  • Q-Sort
  • Personality
  • Marriage
  • Male
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Individuality
  • Humans
  • Female
 

Citation

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Caspi, A., & Herbener, E. S. (1990). Continuity and change: assortative marriage and the consistency of personality in adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(2), 250–258. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.58.2.250
Caspi, A., and E. S. Herbener. “Continuity and change: assortative marriage and the consistency of personality in adulthood.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 58, no. 2 (February 1990): 250–58. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.58.2.250.
Caspi A, Herbener ES. Continuity and change: assortative marriage and the consistency of personality in adulthood. Journal of personality and social psychology. 1990 Feb;58(2):250–8.
Caspi, A., and E. S. Herbener. “Continuity and change: assortative marriage and the consistency of personality in adulthood.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 58, no. 2, Feb. 1990, pp. 250–58. Epmc, doi:10.1037//0022-3514.58.2.250.
Caspi A, Herbener ES. Continuity and change: assortative marriage and the consistency of personality in adulthood. Journal of personality and social psychology. 1990 Feb;58(2):250–258.

Published In

Journal of personality and social psychology

DOI

EISSN

1939-1315

ISSN

0022-3514

Publication Date

February 1990

Volume

58

Issue

2

Start / End Page

250 / 258

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Psychology
  • Social Environment
  • Q-Sort
  • Personality
  • Marriage
  • Male
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Individuality
  • Humans
  • Female