What is the Ideal Match?

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.

Previously, it had widely been thought that women who saw themselves as very attractive preferred socially dominant men, and men who were confident socially and economically looked for the most attractive women.

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.

They believe too many differences between a couple causes instability. If one partner is better looking or has a higher social status, they may be tempted to "trade up" and find a better quality match, say the scientists.

Between similar matches there was less chance of breaking apart and therefore more stability to bring up children.

The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists on June 30, 2003.

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Condensed from Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists
Khorsheed.com – Jul 2003