Life history strategy as a longitudinal predictor of relationship satisfaction and dissolution

The present study tested whether a couple’s shared life history strategy predicts relationship satisfaction longitudinally and relationship dissolution. Through an integration of structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling, we found that a couple’s shared life history strategy: (1) directly predicted their average relationship satisfaction, (2) indirectly predicted the linear change in their relationship satisfaction, (3) indirectly predicted the variability about their average relationship satisfaction, and (4) directly, yet weakly, predicted their likelihood of experiencing relationship dissolution over a one-year period. Couples in a relationship with a slower average life history strategy were more likely to: (1) report higher average levels of relationship satisfaction, (2) have a positive trajectory of relationship satisfaction, (3) have less variability in relationship satisfaction, and (4) were less likely to experience relationship dissolution. This suggests that the influence of life history strategy decreases over the course of the relationship.