Your Professional Success Depends on How Supportive Your Partner Is: Study

Research finds an individual's career success depends on how supportive his or her spouse is.

Marriages and long-standing courtships are based on the philosophy of staying together through 'thick and thin' or 'in health and sicknesses'. A new psychological study suggests people who are married to supportive and conscientious partners tend to fare well in their profession life.

The experts from Washington University in St Louis measured the personality traits of 5,000 couples including openness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism and conscientiousness to note their level of satisfaction on the career front, achievements and income levels of partners.

It was observed that partners of those who were highly conscientious were mostly successful in their careers and managed to accomplish both monetary and personal goals. The study holds that an individuals' career and motivation toward his or her job is vastly dependant on how well the partner deals with everyday stress, household chores and family responsibilities. A considerate and responsible spouse contributes immensely to the success and well-being of his or her partner.

"This is another example where personality traits are found to predict broad outcomes such as health status or occupational success. The experiences responsible for this association are not likely isolated events where the spouse convinces you to ask for a raise or promotion.Instead, a spouse's personality influences many daily factors that sum up and accumulate across time.," said Joshua Jackson, study author and professor at the Washington University, reports the Daily Mail.

More information is available online in the journal Psychological Science.