Shared life history strategy as a strong predictor of romantic relationship satisfaction

Sally Olderbak, Aurelio José Figueredo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

We test a romantic couple's shared Life History Strategy (LHS) as a primary predictor of romantic relationship satisfaction against competing theories. First, we demonstrated that, when compared against the couples' shared level of supportive communication and the geographical distance separating the partners, the pure shared-partner LHS variance, rather than unique partner-specific variance, is the strongest predictor of relationship satisfaction. Then, we revised the measurement model and demonstrated that, when compared against the couple's disassortative mating on LHS, a couple's mean LHS was the sole predictor of relationship satisfaction, and also a strong predictor of the couple's assortative mating on indicators of LHS. Thus, shared LHS seems to be the most critical predictor of relationship satisfaction when compared to supportive communication, geographical distance separating the partners, and the couple's assortative mating on indicators of LHS.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)111-131
Number of pages21
JournalJournal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology
Volume6
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2012

Keywords

  • Assortative mating
  • Communication
  • General factor of personality
  • Life history strategy
  • Long distance relationship
  • Romantic relationship satisfaction

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

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