Characteristics of Individual Associated with Involvement in Different Types of Marriage Preparation Interventions

Recent research has shed light broadly on the individual, couple, and contextual characteristics of audiences that are predictive of their involvement in marriage preparation. This research investigates the individual personality characteristics and emotional readiness factors associated with the selection of specific types of marriage preparation interventions. Operating from an ecosystemic-developmental perspective and the Five-Factor model of personality, this study assessed eight individual personality and emotional health characteristics (anxiety, depression, extroversion, flexibility, kindness, maturity, organization, and self-esteem) as predictors of involvement in each of four different kinds of marriage preparation interventions: premarital college classes, premarital counseling, self-directed approaches, or premarital community workshops, among a sample of 1,461 participants. Logistic regression analysis revealed different patterns of prediction for each type of intervention. Latent profile analysis showed that distinguishing features of personality and emotional readiness typified participants in different interventions. Implications for the content and process of marriage preparation interventions are discussed.