US EditionOpposites don’t attract: couples more likely to be similar than different, study shows
- A large study has found that, contrary to popular belief, romantic partners are more likely to be similar than different in terms of traits such as political leanings, weight at birth, and age of losing virginity. The study drew on data from tens of thousands of British couples and previous studies, suggesting that people tend to engage in "assortative mating" where similar individuals couple up.
- The characteristics most likely to be shared by partners included political and religious attitudes, education levels, and certain measures of IQ. Other traits like height, weight, and conditions such as diabetes and depression also showed positive correlations, although to a lesser extent.
- The study also found positive correlations between partners for a wide range of other traits, from birth weight and parental age to smoking habits and levels of happiness. These findings suggest that there may be underlying mechanisms at play in partner selection that we are not fully aware of.
5 Articles
5 Articles
Opposites don't attract: people who form couples are more likely to be similar than different, study finds
Opposites don't attract. That's the conclusion reached by a study that investigated what really unites two people. Unlike the popular saying, the study on romantic relationships found that in more than 80% of the traits analyzed, couples were often remarkably similar. Tanya Horwitz, a doctoral student at the University of Colorado Boulder, United States, and first author of the study published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, explained: “Bi…
Opposites don’t attract: couples more likely to be similar than different, study shows
Scientists find that most partners have shared traits including political views, education levels and drinking habitsThe power of animal magnetism has brought countless couples together, but when it comes to who we fall for, scientists say there’s little truth in the old adage that opposites attract.A study into romantic relationships found that for more than 80% of traits analysed – from political views to drug taking and the age at which peopl…
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- 40% of the sources lean Left, 40% of the sources lean Right
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