Psychological adaptation after marital disruption: the effects of optimism and perceived control

The present study explored the extent to which the two personality factors--perceived control and dispositional optimism--are related to psychological adaptation after marital disruption. A sample of 658 recently divorced individuals participated in the study by filling in an anonymous questionnaire. Bivariate findings revealed that perceived control and optimism were strongly related to psychological adaptation. However, when both predictors were included in a multiple regression analysis, optimism had a much larger effect than perceived control. The findings clearly indicate that personality factors account for a substantial proportion of the variance in adaptation to marital disruption.