The quality of romantic partnerships depends largely on how people form emotional bonds, and certain personality traits and aggressive behaviors play a less important, but still noteworthy, role. A recent study published in Personality and Individual Differences found that women’s relationship satisfaction is most strongly tied to their own attachment style and their partner’s behavior, while men’s satisfaction is more closely tied to their experiences with and initiation of sexual coercion. These findings highlight the differential effects that romantic partners have on each other’s well-being and relationship stability.
From an evolutionary psychology perspective, relationship satisfaction serves a specific function. Researchers consider this to be a subjective assessment of the costs and benefits of maintaining a particular partnership. Historically, satisfying relationships provided reproductive benefits and helped couples stay together and raise children in a stable environment.
Various personal characteristics can influence this feeling of satisfaction. One of the most prominent is adult attachment. Attachment theory explains how people respond to emotional intimacy and the possibility of rejection.
Some people develop a secure attachment style. This means being satisfied with your intimate relationship and trusting your partner. Some people develop an anxious attachment style, which typically falls into two categories: anxious and avoidant. Anxious people constantly worry about their partner’s availability and fear rejection. People with avoidant attachment feel uncomfortable with emotional intimacy and prefer to maintain physical and psychological distance.
Researchers are also interested in how the personality trait of sociophobia affects romantic relationships. These traits are often grouped into the Dark Triad. This includes narcissism, which involves self-centeredness and a constant desire for admiration. It also includes Machiavellianism, which is characterized by manipulative behavior, and psychopathy, which is characterized by high impulsivity and lack of empathy.
Another major factor that imposes costs on relationships is sexual coercion. This includes someone who uses psychological pressure, manipulation, or physical intimidation to coerce a lover into unwanted sexual activity. Coercion includes being both the victim of these acts and the perpetrator who initiates them.
Lead author Andre Luis Moura de Oliveira Almeida and his colleagues conducted a two-part study to see how all these factors work together. Previous research has often examined these variables in independent pairs, such as how attachment style relates to relationship satisfaction. The research team wanted to assess all these overlapping traits and behaviors simultaneously using an advanced statistical approach.
By testing them all at once, researchers were able to identify which traits truly predict relationship happiness when other personality factors are taken into account. They designed a two-part study that looked at people at an individual level and also analyzed pairs of romantic partners.
In the first study, researchers surveyed 848 people who had been in a romantic relationship for at least 12 months. Participants completed a questionnaire measuring relationship satisfaction, attachment style, Dark Triad traits, and experiences of sexual coercion. The sample was overwhelmingly female, with women making up approximately 88 percent of the group.
A statistical model revealed that a woman’s relationship satisfaction was predicted entirely by her own attachment style. The higher the level of insecure attachment, the lower the relationship satisfaction. In this initial model, Dark Triad personality traits and sexual coercion did not predict women’s romantic success.
The researchers noted that the lack of association between women’s satisfaction and experiences of sexual coercion is a recurring pattern in relationship science. Some research suggests that subtle forms of coercion, such as emotional manipulation or excessive time demands, can be misinterpreted by victims. In cultural contexts with strong patriarchal norms, these behaviors may be seen as a sign of a partner’s commitment rather than abusive tactics.
The study also investigated what predicts sexual coercion. For women, being a victim of sexual coercion was predicted by the coercion itself. This reflects a phenomenon known as victim-perpetrator overlap, in which people who experience aggression in relationships are more likely to trigger aggression as well.
Women’s likelihood of engaging in sexual coercion was predicted by their level of insecure attachment and Dark Triad traits. This suggests that a deep fear of abandoning a relationship, combined with antisocial personality tendencies, can manifest as sexually aggressive behavior.
For men in the first study, none of the variables predicted relationship satisfaction, victimization, or perpetratorship. The researchers determined that these results were not statistically significant. This lack of predictive power may be due to the small number of male participants at this stage of the study, which limited the statistical strength of the analysis.
To understand how these traits function in active relationships, researchers conducted a second study of 55 heterosexual couples. Both partners participated in a collaborative video call with the researcher while completing the survey independently. This method allowed the group to analyze how a person’s characteristics predict their own satisfaction and their partner’s satisfaction.
In this dyadic relationship study, a woman’s relationship satisfaction was negatively predicted by her own avoidant attachment style. Her well-being was also negatively predicted by male partner characteristics. Specifically, if her partner had an insecure attachment style, exhibited narcissism, or was sexually coercive, her satisfaction decreased.
Male partners showed a different pattern. Men’s relationship satisfaction is not predicted by their own attachment style or dark personality traits. Instead, a man’s satisfaction was negatively predicted by his own experience as a victim of sexual coercion.
Men’s sense of satisfaction was also linked to the practice of coercion. If he used coercion on his partner, his relationship happiness decreased. His satisfaction also decreased when his female partner sexually coerced him.
Differences between the two studies highlight the importance of focusing on both individuals and couples. When women were studied individually, their satisfaction appeared to be related only to their internal attachment style. Studies of women with their partners reveal that they are highly sensitive to their partners’ emotional states, narcissism, and aggressive behavior.
Men, on the other hand, did not show a strong association between satisfaction and abstract personality traits. Rather, their relationship fulfillment was closely tied to specific negative experiences, particularly the presence of sexual coercion in the relationship.
The researchers noted several caveats to their findings. Initial studies were characterized by large gender imbalances, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions about men on an individual basis. In the second study, the sample size was relatively small for couples, so the results are exploratory.
Additionally, couples who agreed to participate in joint video interviews may have been happier overall than the average couple. Partners in highly abusive or dissatisfied relationships tend to avoid volunteering in this type of research. The data was collected in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily among educated young people with incomes of their own, which limits the applicability of the findings.
Future research should attempt to replicate these models with larger and more diverse groups of couples. Scientists also need to further investigate why women may not perceive sexual coercion as a negative factor in relationship satisfaction until specific dyadic tests are applied.
The study, “Sexual Coercion and Relationship Satisfaction: Dyadic and Individual Contributions of Attachment and Dark Triad Traits,” was authored by Andre Luis Moura de Oliveira Almeida, Sara Torres Teixeira de Melo, Michel Vaz de Castro, and Mauro Díaz Silva Junior.
