Scientists: Opposites don't attract Tuesday, July 1, 2003 Posted: 8:13 AM EDT (1213 GMT) LONDON, England -- The theory that opposites attract is a myth, say a group of U.S. scientists who have found men and women are more likely to choose partners who are similar -- or they believe are similar -- to themselves. Both sexes are most likely to attract individuals who look like them and have the same wealth, social status and share the same outlook towards family and fidelity, the new research suggests. But the new research indicates that an ideal match is more important and marriage between equivalent people has the best chance of success, say the scientists from Cornell University in New York. The scientist found men and women who rated themselves highly were more selective than those who did not. Attributes that individuals rated highly in others, they also rated as important in themselves. "Human mate choice in Western society seems to be based on a preference for long-term partners who are similar to one's perception of self across a number of evolutionary relevant categories of traits," said Peter Buston and Stephen Emlen who carried out the research. "From the public's perspective, our results suggest that individuals seeking stable long-term relationships should not seek the highest quality partner available, but should simply look for partners who are similar to themselves," they said. http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/07/01/potentials.attract/index.html
Damn straight A doppelganger Pollux would be sexier [a mi et al] than Natalie Portman and Arnold Schwartzenneger COMBINED. Actually, one of the few succesful relationships I've ever had fell apart because I found the other girl to be too much like me. She was head over heels into scifi but virtually uninterested in anything else I find interesting--non scifi music, science, politics, general learning and advancement, etcetera. While there's no way I'd be attracted to someone who was my opposite (stupid, ugly, uninteresting, not funny, you get the picturePlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!) I'll definitely think twice before I consider dating someone who has a great deal of things in common with me.
it does sound like it comes form the common sense school of reasearch, subdivision, we already knew that. Can i just complain its in the wrong area of the forum? This quite clearly isnt eitehr politics or world events, unless you want to broaden the definitions somewhat.
Major issue in politics for over 2,000 years now: egalitarianism. This issue is relevant to both politics and philosophy, and since "world events" is in itself political...
I think it goes both ways. As in the article, I think people look for similarities in others. For instance, one of my friends says that he can usually tell how a relationship will go by looking at how simiar his partner's music tastes are. However, people are attracted to dynamics too. For instance a lot of times people look for partners to fill in the space that isn't in their life. People also look for people to fill the roles of the games they like to play. An abuser will be attracted to weaker, victim-like people. Someone who's spoiled will be more attracted to someone who is willing to give in to them. etc. etc.
People tend to marry or settle into long-term relationships with the "best" person who will settle for them. That's why you very rarely get an ugly person married to a supermodel, for example.
Classes I think the the reason why people like meeting, dating, etc. others similar to themselves is because, basically, they understand what each other is going through. I think it's logical to assume the people that make up certain classes - whether social, educational, physical, you name it - are generally treated the same, and/or visa versa. Therefore, it's easier for you to discuss things with 'people of your class' because you can each see how eachother's opinions have formed (how they made their decisions), even if your actual opinions aren't the same. For example: you see this when celebrities choose to date/marry other celebrities (most of the time). When a celebrity marries a non-celebrity, it's difficult for the non-celebrity to understand the celebrity's obligations, and it's hard for them to make that emotional transition of having to get used to not seeing their SO as often, maybe having the feeling of being watched, and not having their usual daily routine that they would like to keep.
