SPOUSE SIMILARITY IN ATTITUDES, PERSONALITY, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

The study of the origin of spouse similarity is interesting because the extent to which spouse similarity reflects genetic resemblance between husbands and wives affects the genetic structure of a population. The sources of observed spouse similarity in attitudes, personality, and psychological well-being are discussed. Analyses based on data collected from an American adult sample assessed longitudinally showed that spouse correlations were high for attitudes and low to moderate for personality and psychological well-being. Four competing explanations to spouse similarity were compared: initial similarity, attrition, convergence, and age covariation. The results did not support the latter three explanations, indicating that initial similarity may be an appropriate interpretation of observed spouse similarity. The findings are consistent with those of other comparable studies.