Preprint · Nov 8, 2017
Personality and Social Relationships: As Thick as Thieves
By Mund M, Jeronimus BF, Neyer FJ
This chapter shows that personality traits and social relationships are deeply entwined in a bidirectional way: Individuals select relationships partly based on their personality traits but at the same time develop across the lifespan partly in response to changes in their social environment. Life transitions are an important catalyst of changes in personality-relationship transactions. We argue that personality traits and social relationships are so closely tied that, in our view, the link between personality and health can only be understood against the backdrop of individuals’ relationships.