Personality and social relationships: What do we know and where do we go

Abstract

Personality and social relationships influence each other in multiple and consequential ways. To understand how people differ from each other in their personality and social behavior, how these differences develop, and how this affects further life outcomes, we need to better understand the interplay of personality and social relationships. Here, we provide an integrative overview on personality-relationship research across relationship types (everyday encounters, friendships, romantic, and family relationships), and personality characteristics. We summarize the state of research on (a) how much relationship aspects vary across actors, partners, and actor-partner relations, (b) which personality characteristics predict these variance components (i.e. actor, partner, and relationship effects), and (c) how social relationships work as contexts for personality development. Following an integrative process framework, key open questions are discussed concerning the processes that underlie personality-relationship and relationship-personality effects. We conclude with a call for conceptual integration, methodological expansion, and collaborative action.Personality and relationships influence each other in manifold ways; they cannot be understood in isolation. This paper summarizes the state of the art, provides a common framework for the future of science of personality and social relationships. Emotional Stability, Communion, and Self-Control relate to getting along. Agency and Sociability predict getting ahead. Relationship variance is the largest but least understood variance component. Evidence for effects of relationships on personality development is mixed. More comprehensive and integrative research on underlying processes needed.