The interplay between gender and personality in relationship outcomes: Satisfaction across domains and partnership status

Abstract

This study tested whether gender moderated links between extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness and relationship outcomes: satisfaction in friendship, family, romantic domains, and partnership status. Data from 3,780 adults in Australia, Denmark, and Sweden were analyzed. The clearest moderation involved partnership status: extraversion related more strongly to men’s partnering, whereas neuroticism and agreeableness showed negative associations for men and neutral to positive associations for women. For ongoing relationships, neuroticism was more strongly linked to lower satisfaction among men; extraversion related more positively to men’s family satisfaction and agreeableness related more positively to women’s. Links between traits and friendship satisfaction showed minimal gender differences. Partnership-status moderations remained after controlling for age and income, while family-domain moderations attenuated. Patterns were largely consistent across countries.