INVERSE - July 28 - Scientists now argue that there's something far more important than personality when it comes to cultivating happy relationships. The most powerful predictors of relationship quality are the characteristics of the relationship itself. This is according to an analysis of 11,196 couples gleaned from 43 studies. The study as published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This study breaks down all the individual ingredients that go into romantic relationships. They fell into two categories: individual characteristics of each partner (income, age, empathy...) and relationship characteristics (affection, sexual satisfaction...). The dynamic that you build with someone - the shared norms, the in-jokes, the shared experiences - is so much more than the separate individuals who make up that relationship. A partner's personality may only account for ~5% of that relationship satisfaction.
by Emma Betuel
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