Cooperation and conflict in romantic partners’ personal projects: the role of life domains

Personal projects represent a person’s pursuits in different life domains. The present study examines the orientations of adults’ personal projects and how these orientations are embedded in the dynamics of romantic relationships. Cross-sectional data from 249 married or cohabitating Hungarian heterosexual couples were collected (mean age 42 ± 10.76 and 39.64 ± 10.21 years for male and female partners, respectively). An adapted version of the Personal Project Assessment procedure was completed by both partners individually. Four of their chosen projects were evaluated based on perceived cooperation and conflict regarding these projects and other predefined aspects. First, after applying a person-oriented approach, four meaningful content domains emerged from the thematically coded data using cluster analysis: (1) Practical, (2) Work-Life Balance, (3) Relationships, and (4) Learning and Growth orientations. For both genders, people with Learning and Growth orientation were younger than those with Practical orientation, and among women, the Work-Life Balance orientation group was older. Second, we linked the content domains to relationship experiences on the dyadic level. Both partners with Learning and Growth orientation goals perceived less cooperation. Female partners whose spouses had Work-Life Balance or Learning and Growth orientation goals perceived less conflict regarding their own goals. Overall, Learning and Growth-oriented goals can be considered more distant from the dynamics of romantic relationships because they involve fewer joint experiences and less cooperation and conflict.