Abstract
Processes leading to family formation and dissolution have been studied extensively in the sociology of the family. Time related elements like parental divorce or cohort and personal characteristics like educational level or values are repeatedly identified as influential components in family dynamics. Even though psychological research has shown that psychological variables play a role too, they have hardly been introduced in family sociological or demographical studies on family dynamics. This project identifies personality as a component in the explanation of family formation and dissolution. The project aims to innovate the field in several ways. First, personality – measured by the Big Five Inventory – is introduced as an explanatory component in our longitudinal models. Second, the multi-actor structure of the Divorce in Flanders data is used to look at the personality of both partners and the way in which their match as a couple influences family dynamics afterwards. Third, we study both initial and higher order relationships. Due to the high prevalence of divorce, newly constellated families are a new reality that ought to be studied separately. Family processes in higher order families are not the same and we also expect personality to have a different role in this new reality.
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