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First stable relationship makes happy, but hardly changes personality: study

Xinhua, May 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

The first relationship that a young person enters into increases his satisfaction with life, but changes his personality only slightly, said a study on Tuesday.

Researchers at German universities of Kiel and Tuebingen compared changes in personality and life satisfaction of 312 young adults who established their first relationships or remained single in the course of four years.

The results have been published in the journal "Social Psychological and Personality Science".

The study results showed, young adults who established their first stable relationship are more satisfied with their lives than singles.

This applies to persons who have a steady partner between 21 and 23 for the first time, as well as for those who later enter in a relationship at age of 23 to 25 for the first time.

However, study participants who had their first relationship at age of 21 and 23 didn't differ in their personality from the singles.

Only those who established the first partnership at age of 23 to 25 are compared to same-aged singles more extrovert, that is, more social, more conscientious, emotionally more stable and less prone to depression.

"It's been found, on the one hand, social relationships makes one happy, on the other hand, balanced and stable people have greater opportunities to enter into social relationships," said Prof. Andrea Abele-Brehm, the president of the German Society of Psychology. Endit