Love makes you strong

I think we all know a larger study would have found some cases where love for the wrong person led to negative effects.

http://www.uni-jena.de/en/News/PM140509_Love_Neuroticism.html

May 9, 2014

Psychologists of the German Universities of Jena and Kassel discovered that a romantic relationship can have a positive effect on personality development in young adults. Researchers report on this finding in the online edition of the renowned science magazine Journal of Personality (DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12102). The scientists focused on neuroticism - one of the five characteristics considered to be the basic dimensions of human personality which can be used to characterize every human being. "Neurotic people are rather anxious, insecure, and easily annoyed. They have a tendency towards depression, often show low self-esteem and tend to be generally dissatisfied with their lives," Dr. Christine Finn explains, who wrote her doctoral dissertation within the framework of the current study. "However, we were able to show that they become more stable in a love relationship, and that their personality stabilizes," the Jena psychologist says.

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The scientists were able to observe this effect in men as well as women. "Of course everyone reacts differently and a long, happy relationship has a stronger effect than a short one," Prof. Dr. Franz J. Neyer says. He is the co-author of the new publication and chair of Differential Psychology of the Jena University. "But generally we can say: young adults entering a relationship can only win!"

For Christine Finn the results contain yet another positive message - not only for people with neurotic tendencies but also for those who suffer from depression or anxiety disorders: "It is difficult to reform a whole personality but our study confirms: Negative thinking can be unlearned!"

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