It’s long been known that aspects of your personality can affect the quality of your relationships. The most influential personality trait in predicting marital outcomes is neuroticism - the tendency to be in prolonged states of negative emotion, like guilt, fear, anxiety, stress, and anger. Neuroticism leads to poorer relationship outcomes, including lower marital satisfaction. But why does this work?

In their recent study, Terri Fisher and James McNulty thought it might have to do with sex, specifically, that people with neurotic personalities would have increased negative emotional experiences leading to less enjoyment of sexual experiences, which would then lead to less overall marital satisfaction. They put 72 newlywed couples to the test, by examining each partner’s level of neuroticism, their feelings of satisfaction with sex in their relationship as well as satisfaction in their marriage. One year later they reassessed marital and sexual satisfaction for the same couples.

Using hierarchical linear modeling, the researchers replicated previous findings generally showing that higher neuroticism was associated with lower sexual and marital satisfaction (see article for specific gender differences and differences between self and partner effects). Moreover, sexual satisfaction actually mediated the relationship between neuroticism and marital satisfaction.

While results suggest that high neuroticism leads to lower sexual satisfaction which leads to lower marital satisfaction, it is also possible that sexual satisfaction and marital satisfaction are so highly intertwined, especially in the first year of marriage, that they may leave little unique variance. Nevertheless, the importance of personality on sexual and marital satisfaction is valuable, and this newfound pathway further suggests ways to improve relationships, by improving enjoyment of sexual experiences.

Further Reading:

Fisher, T. D., & McNulty, J. K. (2008). Neuroticism and marital satisfaction: The mediating role played by the sexual relationship. Journal of Family Psychology, 22, 112-122.